I've Missed You
by Brithna
Summary: Summary: Miranda can't find courage with her own two hands and a flashlight  shocker  and GASP-she has a friend. Who knew that was possible?
1. Chapter 1

I've Missed You

"Thank God! I'm free." Rebecca Kennedy M.D. didn't even bother changing out of her two day old scrubs before rushing out of the hospital. All she wanted now was a hot shower and a drink. It was times like these that made her wonder why she had not gone into general practice. But _no_, she had to be a big shot doctor that killed her-self in the emergency room; day in and day out.

Kennedy, as she preferred to be called, hailed a cab and was on her way home in seconds. Half way there her phone went off. If it was the hospital she was going to pretend like her phone suddenly got dropped off the top of the Empire State Building. No dropping necessary though. It was just a text from her totally awesome and totally crazy neighbor.

_MP: If you will be home at some point in this lifetime – I'll be up on the roof in one hour._

Kennedy laughed. Her neighbor certainly had a way with words. The first time she told someone that she lived next door to none other than Miranda Freakin' Priestly, they called her a liar. That was the first and last time she ever told anyone who she lived next to.

_Kennedy: I'm on my way. C U in 1._

Fifteen minutes later she walked into her house and straight into her mother's arms. This was the best thing about coming home. Her mother had been living with her for a while now and Kennedy loved every minute of it.

"Hey, momma."

"Hi, baby. Lord, you stink. Don't they allow you to shower in that place?"

"Yeah, but I prefer sleep over showers."

Her mother Karen swatted her backside and shooed her toward the stairs. "Go shower. I'll make you a sandwich. I assume you'll be headed to the roof for a drink?"

"You betcha. We have like two weeks of bitching to catch up on."

"She just got back from Milan. The girls told me she was in an awful mood when she came home."

"Momma, when is Miranda not in an awful mood?"

"I just thought you should know considering what you told me earlier today. Do you think this is a good idea?"

"No, I think it's a great idea." Kennedy bounded up the stairs two at a time.

Shower: check. Clean clothes: check. Food: check. Okay, she was ready. As always, Miranda was already there, sitting on her own roof staring up at the sky. Kennedy could instantly tell she was drained.

"Yo! I'm here, I made it!" Kennedy walked across the roof carefully. Miranda came over and took the sandwiches and offered her a hand as Kennedy carefully stepped over the two foot ledge to Miranda's side.

"Yes you made it. Finally."

"Ah don't give me that raised eyebrow crap. Some of us have to work for a living you know. We can't all sit in an office all day, looking at clothes that most people will never be able to afford in this lifetime or the next." She loved giving Miranda hell about her job. It was like poking an ant hill with a stick.

The two women sat down and Miranda poured wine and gave Kennedy her sandwich. "I'll forget that remark you just made and give you this wine instead."

"Thanks for the wine. I needed it. So…how was your trip?"

Miranda stretched out her legs and propped them up on another chair. "Do you really want to know?"

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise. Mom said you were in a bad mood when you came home?"

"Is your mother clairvoyant or did she hear that from my girls?"

"Both, but you know they can't keep their mouths shut."

"No they can't. Remember when Stephen left? Your mother knew about that before I did and I was his wife."

Yeah she remembered. That had been one hell of a mess and thank God she hadn't been home when he packed his shit. It was one happy day for Kennedy. She hated Stephen. "Yes, Miranda. I remember and I don't want to talk about Stephen. He still pisses me off."

Miranda scoffed. "You hated him more than I did." She leaned back in her chair and looked back up at the sky while Kennedy ate.

"Yeah…you're probably right. That guy was a sleaze ball and a drunk. Next topic, please. How was Milan?"

"Horrible. I was surrounded by incompetent people trying to impress me-how do you think it went?"

"Hm…that good huh?"

"Stop talking with your mouth full. How was the hospital? You like you've been run over twice."

"Horrible. Incompetent people and all that…" she looked over just in time to see Miranda roll her eyes. At least she got that much out of her. They had been meeting up here for nearly two years and surprisingly enough the conversations usually came easy between them, but not tonight. Then again Miranda was always this way when she came back from a trip.

"Doctor Kennedy, why are we out here if neither of us can think of anything to say besides 'horrible'?"

Kennedy threw her napkin at Miranda's head "Stop calling me 'doctor' and you know why we're out here—"

"We're out here because neither of us has anything better to do."

"Speak for yourself. Personally I need this. I need to come up here and see the real world for a change after I get out of that hospital and I suspect you need the same thing."

"Alright, alright, there is no need for dramatics. I agree. Happy?"

"Yes. Pour me some more wine."

Miranda shook her head and grabbed the wine bottle "Yes, doctor."

Kennedy watched her pour the wine and wondered why Miranda really did keep meeting her on the roof like this. Miranda was _the_ -Fashion Icon Extraordinaire-what could she possibly be getting out of this? Or wanting out of this? Mostly likely it came down to the novelty of it all. Kennedy got to sit out here and drink someone else's good wine and listen to someone else's problems – or nothing at all. While Miranda got to sit out here and eat someone else's ham sandwiches and listen to someone else's problems – or nothing at all. It was a fair trade.

"What is it Miranda? What's going on? I can see your wheels turning."

"I have a dress for your mother…a 'thank-you' of sorts, for watching the girls while I was gone."

"I'm sure she'll love it. She likes having them over. It makes her feel needed."

"They like being with her as well. She is...for all intents and purposes…their grandmother."

Bullshit, there was more to it than that. Something wasn't right and Kennedy didn't care if took a crow bar to pry Miranda's mouth open, she was determined to get it out of her.

"So…care to really tell me what the hell is wrong with you or are you going to make me perform emergency surgery on your mouth? Because I know damn good and well that a dress for my mother is not what has your mind all twisted up." Hopefully that thing about 'third time's a charm' was true.

Now that she's said it – she was way too chicken to look at Miranda. If Miranda decided to throw her off the roof she wouldn't be surprised. Kennedy watched her out of the corner of her eye, trying to read her movements for some sort of sign. She got nothing. Miranda sat ram-rod straight in her chair holding her glass of wine steady in her lap with both hands.

"My mind is not all 'twisted up', thank you. How else can I convey to you that it was merely a week from the depths of hell. I have no good help now that Nigel has run off to _Runway-France_. Emily is a disaster as you well know. Irv is still a complete waste of brain cells. Stephens' lawyer called me twice while I was away because he feels he deserves more out of a divorce that has already been finalized, and frankly I feel like I haven't slept in almost a year. All of that equals out to: horrible."

"Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?" Kennedy hid her laugh behind her glass of wine and Miranda couldn't help but join in.

"I hate you doctor. Truly I do."

"No you don't. You just hate the fact that I make you talk to me. I still say there's more to it. Every time you come back from a trip you're different, but I'll let it go."

"You might be right but letting it go will be your saving grace tonight."

"It's not good for you to hold everything in…eat your sandwich before I do."

"Alright. You know I was thinking that if Donatella saw me eating a ham sandwich on a rooftop she would most likely have a heart attack."

"Naw, she'd just ask you for a bite. Hey, now that you have learned how to talk again -care to hear about my day?"

Miranda waved her hand to signal a 'yes' and poured them some more wine.

"I'm being interviewed for an article," Kennedy noted Miranda's sudden stiffness at the word 'interviewed', "It'll be sort of like a day-in-the-life thing for _The Mirror_. Apparently I'm special." Even in the dark Kennedy could see the blood drain from Miranda's face. Bingo.

Miranda cleared her throat and took a surprisingly large drink of wine. "Special indeed and just who is writing this 'day –in-the-life' article?"

Kennedy sat back and got ready to watch the show. She knew as soon as she said the name Miranda was likely to have kittens right there on the roof. "Andy Saches."

Miranda let out a long slow breath then stood up.

"Oh, no you don't. Sit down Miranda. You're not walking out on this conversation tonight. Sit down."

Miranda turned back and glared at Kennedy with wide eyes. Kennedy knew she needed to tread carefully. This woman was not accustomed to being told what to do but it would be worth it in the end. She just had to make Miranda sit down long enough to realize it. Miranda finally sat back down and Kennedy made a mental note to buy some lottery tickets very, very soon.

"I do not want to talk about that Kennedy."

"I know you don't, but you will."

"No. Actually I will not. I will not discuss her. There is nothing to discuss."

"Miranda, why are you so stubborn? Do you remember the first time you told me about Andy? I caught you up here half drunk and crying. Miranda Priestly might get drunk sometimes but she certainly doesn't sit under the stars and cry over some girl that supposedly means nothing to her!"

"I was not crying over some girl," Miranda waved her hand dismissively thru the air.

"Excuse me, has anyone ever told you that you suck at lying? I don't care how much wine you had to drink that night –you were crying. You sat right here and told me all about how she left you in Paris, and how all you wanted to do was go after her and make her stay—And. You. Cried. It might not have been some grandiose, wailing type of thing, but you were crying all the same." Kennedy took a deep breath when Miranda looked up at her. There was pure unadulterated fury in her eyes.

Miranda threw up her hands in disgust, "And what of it? She left. She quit. What of it? I was probably delirious that night from lack of sleep or something."

"Like hell. Miranda…you didn't talk about her like she was an employee. That night you talked about her like she was your first love or something for Christ's sake. Nearly every time we have more than a bottle and half of wine – you talk about her in the same way." Miranda started to speak but Kennedy cut her off. "Please, Miranda, just hear me out and if you want to throw me off the roof afterwards then I'll let you ok?"

Miranda rolled her eyes and nodded in the affirmative then looked up at the sky, intent on not making eye contact with Kennedy, which was fine if that was what it took to get this over with.

"Ok, let's start off small – do you miss Andy?"

Miranda tilted her head down and glared at Kennedy for a brief moment then lifted her head back up to the sky, "Her name is Andrea, and yes, I miss her. There is little need to state what is already apparently quite obvious."

"Ok. Andrea then. Miranda if you miss her, why haven't you tried to contact her? She's literally right down the street from your office. You probably pass right by it several times a day."

"She would not see me if I did. You know how things were. You know what I did…If you want to do this you best pour some more wine. I can't even believe I'm talking to you about this."

Kennedy did was she was told and poured more wine. "Miranda I think she would see you in spite of everything in the past."

"And when did you become so smart?"

"In fifth grade science class."

"I'm shocked an amazed. Kennedy this whole conversation is pointless."

"Whatever. Drink this and tell me…are you like, I don't know, weirded out by your obvious feelings?"

"I have no feelings on the matter."

Kennedy slapped Miranda on the arm. This was turning out to be harder than the last triple by-pass she got talked into assisting on. "You're so full of bullshit you can't even see what's right in front of you. Now tell me-are you weirded out?"

"A little."

"You shouldn't be. What are you afraid of? You're Miranda Fucking Priestly. Who can touch you? As for the 'gay' thing-so what! Who gives a shit about that? "

"Hm…alright I'll concede the high-ground on that point."

"Yay, a miracle. Now, if she were to call you tomorrow and ask you out to lunch, what would you say?"

Miranda let out a deep breath, "I'd say yes."

Kennedy smiled and leaned back in her chair "Well there ya go! Call her tomorrow and ask her to lunch. I know she'll say yes. She told me so." Opps.

"She said what?" Miranda gripped the arm rests of her chair and leaned forward. "She said what?"

Kennedy's grin got bigger as she stretched and crossed her arms behind her head. What the hell, might as well jump in with both feet here. "After we did the first interview today, I might have let it slip that I live next door to you. As soon as I said it her face lit up. I'm not even joking. It lit up like a sign on Broadway."

"You didn't say anything else did you? Please tell me you didn't because if you did…"

"Calm down Miranda. I didn't say anything. I swear. But you need to call her." Miranda was still gripping the chair, probably contemplating how best to Kill her but that was beside the point. "Miranda did you hear me? You need to call her."

"How exactly is it that you know she would say yes? Was there some proverbial magic eight ball nearby? Why would she want to see me or speak to me after all this time?"

Kennedy rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "No, Goddamn it there was no 'proverbial magic eight ball', the truth is that she told me she wanted to see you but that _she_ was too afraid. She's afraid you would not want to see her. You have no idea how hard it was for me not to tell her otherwise, Miranda. This whole thing is totally ridiculous. The both of you want to see each other but you're both too afraid. It's like I'm back in junior high or something."

"Well I'm certainly thankful you were able to keep your mouth shut. That would have been a disaster."

"Which part? The part where you ask her to have meal with you and she says yes, or the part where you tell her you are in love with her and she jumps on top of you?" Kennedy hid behind her hands again as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Yes, death was approaching. Quickly.

"I do believe you're drunk Doctor."

"Not so drunk to notice that you didn't refute either of the statements I just made."

Miranda nodded and poured the last of the wine into their glasses. "I'm too old for her."

"Oh shut up. That's your best argument for a lunch date?"

"Kennedy…"

"I know. Miranda, I know. I've been hearing about this for months when I can get you drunk enough. I know it would be more than just a simple lunch for you…but I think it would be more for her too. Call her. You deserve it. You've come too far in life to finish it out unhappy and alone."

While Miranda sat there staring into her wine glass looking for answers, Kennedy quietly took Miranda's cell phone off the little table between them and programmed Andy's number into it. She had made a point in memorizing it before she came up to the roof.

"What if I call her and she says no—in spite of what you think?"

"Then at least you'll know…and as they say 'there's no time like the present'. Take it –it's ringing." Kennedy threw Miranda's phone to her and quickly crossed back over to her own roof. "When she answers—tell her you missed her." She would never forget the look on Miranda's face for as long as she lived.

Miranda clutched the phone and stared at the display, listening to the faint ringing sound. For a second she wasn't even sure what she was looking at. What is a phone? What is that noise? Then all of that confusion was replaced by a voice she had not heard in so long.

"Hello?"

Miranda didn't even know what to say. Wasn't there supposed to be this thing called 'air'? If so—where was it? Her lungs felt empty. She took a deep breath hoping that some oxygen made it to the appropriate place.

"Hello, Andrea…"

"Miranda? Miranda is that you? How did you get my number?"

Well she didn't sound mad, that was a good sign right? She hadn't hung up yet…another good sign. "Yes. I…well you see my neighbor is someone you know. A Doctor Kennedy…whom probably won't live to see morning but nevertheless –she is my neighbor."

"I know her. I'm doing an article…but you already know that don't you?"

"Yes, she was kind enough to tell me about that this evening. I…she…gave me your number."

"Oh. Okay. Well is there something I can do for you?"

Miranda couldn't help but laugh. It was so like her Andrea to only ever want to know if there was something she needed. Even after everything that had happened, after how things had ended in Paris, Andrea was still willing to see to the demands of Miranda Priestly. It was high time that table was turned.

"No, Andrea. There is nothing that I need."

"Are you alright Miranda? You sound odd?"

"Oh, yes I'm fine…more than fine actually. The wonderful Doctor Kennedy just caught me a little off guard, and we both know how I hate that. Andrea, will you have lunch with me tomorrow?" Miranda sucked in a much needed breath since she had felt the need to use only one in the last three sentences.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes. I will have lunch with you."

"Well…alright. Are you sure?"

"Miranda, yes I'm sure. I will have lunch with you. Are you _sure_ you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm perfectly well. I will call you in the morning to discuss a place and time?"

"Ok. That sounds good. See you tomorrow Miranda."

"Goodnight Andrea…oh…Andrea?"

"Yes, Miranda?"

"I've missed you." Miranda ended the call without waiting for a reply. In the morning she would call Andrea and if she was lucky enough, her life would finally begin again.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank God for Doctor Kennedy

When Miranda woke up at five the next morning she was still pissed off. Pissed off and excited. Excited? Miranda could not remember the last time she would have categorized her feelings as 'excited'. Nevertheless, Doctor Kennedy was lucky she hadn't been skinned alive last night. There was still plenty of time left for that though-after lunch. It could definitely wait until after lunch.

Since Miranda was up, she decided everybody else should be up too. Why waste a perfect morning? The girls finally stopped complaining when they realized she had made them breakfast already. These days Miranda tried to make sure there was at least one tiny bright spot in it for them when she decided to make their lives hell. So far it was working. In fact, since Stephens's climatic departure, there were improvements everywhere you looked in the Priestly household. Thank God.

When Miranda arrived at _Runway_ earlier than usual due to her 'excitement', she was disappointed to see that Alexandra, the new-ish second assistant, already had coffee waiting for her. What a pity she didn't get to rip into someone straight out of the gate. The coffee was screaming hot too so that point of attack was mute as well. She must have some inside help from Roy or something. At least the girl was smart enough to use him as a valuable resource. Miranda could only think of one other person who had ever made the connection-Andrea. Alexandra might make it after all and just maybe Miranda would start thinking about remembering her name-out loud.

It was only eight by the time she was done giving an onslaught of orders but and she couldn't wait any longer. Surely Andrea would be awake by now. Four rings in and she found out differently.

"Hello?" Andrea's voice was a little distant and disoriented. Apparently she had lost the ability to wake up and be ready to perform miracles in the very next second.

"Good Morning Andrea. I woke you?"

"Miranda…what time is it?"

"We are exactly eight hours and 3 minutes into the day."

"Hm…so we are. I'm awake now."

"I'm glad to hear it. Do you not have work to do today?"

Andrea yawned into the phone. "No. I mean yes I do, but I'm doing it from home. I have a lot of internet research to do on this feature and I like to do that from home. Much quieter."

"I can see the appeal in that. I trust you still want to do go to lunch?" Miranda actually crossed the fingers of her free hand. Someone would die today if Andrea cancelled.

"Oh yes! Lunch is on. When? Where?"

Miranda uncrossed her fingers and smiled. Should she put out a companywide memo to let everyone know they got to live today? Maybe. "I'm afraid I can't meet you until one. If that is alright we can meet at that little bistro down the street. I can't remember the name…"

"Of course you can't—I meant that as a joke by the way. I know where you're talking about. I'll be there. I can't believe you want to have lunch with me."

"Stranger things have been known to happen. I think Cerulean Blue is making a come-back actually." A come-back indeed…

That got a laugh out of the girl at least "I'll see you there Miranda. Goodbye…oh...I've missed you too Miranda."

The phone went dead and Miranda once again found herself staring at the display. That went better than she had hoped. She had not passed out or made too big of a fool of herself, and she had even managed not to say anything rude-shocker. Maybe Kennedy would get to stay alive after all.

Speaking of Kennedy-Miranda flipped thru her contacts until she found what she was looking for. Someone needed an early morning wake-up text.

_MP: Wake up_.

A full ten minutes went by before she received a reply.

_Kennedy: NO. Are you having lunch with her or do I still have work to do?_

_MP: We're having lunch. _

_Kennedy: Praise God -going back to sleep._

_MP: Fine. I expect you to be available to chat by 230._

_Kennedy: K…really going back to sleep-bye. Do not txt again unless you need medical attention._

Miranda smiled and took a sip of her coffee. This was turning out to be the best day she'd had in nearly a year.

By twelve forty-five Miranda was seated and waiting. She never waited on anyone so this was an entirely new concept. It gave her too much time to think. She started remembering what a bitch she had been to Andrea and it made her start to sweat. How in blazes could she want to have lunch with her after all that Miranda had put her thru? Miranda didn't get to think of an answer because here she was. In the flesh, headed right to their table. Miranda's lungs were empty again. Fabulous.

Andrea was stunning. She had on a simple pair of jeans, a Chanel sweater that accentuated all the right things and her hair was down. The sheer simplicity of it all, accompanied by that beautiful hair that went on for days - made Miranda's mouth dry and she felt a little foolish. She couldn't decide whether she was turning into a hormonal teenager or an old pervert. Either way she felt foolish.

Just before Andrea made it to the table Miranda managed to find her legs. She stood and pulled Andrea's chair out a bit. "Andrea, how are you?" Miranda opted for none of the air-kisses and fake hugging. That would be too much for her body to negotiate.

They sat down and stared at each other for a quick moment before Andrea cleared her throat and found her voice. "I'm good. Busy, but good."

The waiter suddenly appeard and having both been here on several occasions they were able to order quickly. Surprisingly enough it would be salads and steak for both of them. Miranda remembered that Andrea could always eat a good meal- in its entirety.

"Well, I wanted to thank you for meeting me today…I know this is unexpected."

"Unexpected but nice. It gives me a chance to apologize to you. Thank God for Doctor Kennedy, right?" Andrea regarded her with a raised eyebrow and raised her glass of water.

"Right." Miranda raised her glass of sparkling mineral water as well and they toasted their mutual acquaintance. Miranda's mind got back on track and she remembered that Andrea had said the word 'apologize'. "Wait…you need to apologize?"

"Yes."

Andrea tucked her unruly hair behind an ear and Miranda thought she was going to stroke. Had she always felt this way about Andrea? She couldn't remember it being this bad, but who had time to solve an algebra equation? No one, at least not right now. "Whatever for?" She has a good guess. Paris maybe?

"I should not have left the way I did. I apologize for that. It should have been done differently."

Miranda was a little shocked. Did this mean Andrea would have left anyway? "You mean to say that you would have left regardless?" The salads arrived but Miranda wasn't sure she could eat. Andrea immediately started dissecting hers and applied copious amounts of dressing. Miranda guessed that it was her way of finding something else to do with her eyes besides look at Miranda.

"Yes. I would have left anyway." Andrea was still performing surgery on her salad and Miranda was beginning to think she would have a promising future in the hospital realm.

"I have to admit I did not expect you to say that."

"No, I don't imagine that you would."

Ok, it was now painfully apparent that this was going to be a tit-for-tat, verbal sparring war between them. So be it. Miranda certainly knew how to do that; she just wasn't aware that Andrea knew how to as well. Perhaps she had picked up a few new traits in the past year.

"So tell me why. If it wouldn't have been about the debacle with Nigel-what was it?"

Andrea finally looked up from her slaughtered salad "Debacle? That was hardly a 'debacle' Miranda and it pissed me off."

Miranda took a breath and tried to think of a way to respond. No it had not just been a debacle. Irv had nearly taken her empire away from her and she had committed professional murder to stop it. The fact that it pissed Andrea off wasn't really all that surprising, it had pissed Miranda off too. She just never told anyone that. In the middle of her silent musing, Andrea had started back up.

"Talk about doing things differently- you could have done that differently Miranda. I think you know that. All you would have had to do was tell Nigel."

It was Miranda's turn to start slicing up her salad to avoid making eye contact. "Excuse me? Tell Nigel?"

"Yes. Hello…you should have told him beforehand."

Miranda was slightly amused when Andrea started waving her fork around for emphases. It was sexy in a strange way. Okay, yes – she was turning into a hormonal teenager. Shaking her brain back on track again, she recovered. "Told him what exactly?"

"You know what I mean. You should have went to him and told him that the plan had changed – and why. Don't tell me 'there was no time' because there was. You showed me that when you gave your little speech in the car. You knew in plenty of time to warn him. Instead you left him to figure it out at the table like a fool. That wasn't right. In fact, you should have told me too." Andrea took a breath and the rest of their meal arrived. It was now time to kill the already dead steak.

Miranda continued to watch her and made a note to make sure there was to be no sharp cutlery at their next meeting – if they were lucky enough to have one. "I'll agree to that. I handled it poorly." Why not admit it? It was true; but at the time she was so wrapped up in trying to save herself, she hadn't given one thought to Nigel and what it would do to him or anyone else. "Just tell me one thing. Tell me why I should have informed you as well?" She couldn't wait to hear the answer to this.

"Why? Because you just should have. Was I not there to stand by you and assist you? My job, at the time, was to be your right hand. You may not have seen it that way, but it is what it is. In order for me to do my job, you had to do yours and you didn't. You left me in the dark when I could have helped you."

At this point Miranda was speechless and red in the face. Her mind was blank but she came up with a question quickly to cover her mental freak out session. "What difference would that have made? You would have just left sooner apparently."

Andrea put down her fork and thankfully her knife and stared at Miranda with lasers in her eyes "No. I would not have left sooner. That would have come much later. Trust me."

"Would you have told me not to do it?" Miranda eyed her suspiciously and tried not think about the second part of her statement. She was not about to go back to her previous question about why Andrea would have left-regardless of the 'debacle'. They weren't going there today. Miranda didn't know if she could take it-whatever the answer was.

"No."

This was quickly becoming the mother of all stare downs "No?"

"No Goddamn it." Andrea's voice rose a little bit but she lowered it to something that sounded more like a screaming hiss. "I would not have told you _no_. I would have told you to tell Nigel first. You need to go see a doctor because you are definitely losing your hearing."

"So, do I understand you correctly? You agree that besides how I went about it – I did the right thing? What was all that business in the car then? And I'll have you know my hearing is just fine."

Andrea rolled her eyes in a surprisingly good 'Miranda' sort of way. "Yes you did the right thing, Irv was trying to take you out, and that _business_ in the car was more complex."

"Well please continue." Miranda took a long drink of her water and started in on her steak again in an attempt to regain some of her coolness back.

"God, this is borderline ridiculous. I have half a mind to leave but I won't. This has to be said and over with if we're going to get anywhere."

Miranda almost choked on Andrea's last words. Get anywhere? Where was that exactly?

"You said that I did to Emily exactly what you did to Nigel. That wasn't true. I at least thought about her feelings and tried to break the news in a better way-instead of stabbing her in the back with no regrets. I can't say the same for you. And that bit about how 'everybody wants to be us'? That's just plain stupid Miranda. I seriously doubt you even meant that to begin with, which is why it sounded so asinine."

Andrea took a breath and a long drink of water. Unfortunately she picked up her fork again and started waving it around. "Nobody really wants to be like you because they don't even know what the real you is. How's that for asinine? Yes, the outside is fictitiously appealing to a lot of people in this pathetic world, but once they got down in the mire – they wouldn't want your world. Not one ounce of it."

By now Miranda was finished with her steak and contemplated ordering desert just to have something else to work on; but never mind- because that would just mean more forks on the table.

"Are you always so right Andrea? I am quite honestly almost without words – almost. Let me begin by saying that yes that little line about everybody wanting to be us, is just that, a line. It usually shuts people up, but you are of course the exception. "

Andrea raised her fork with lettuce still on the end, about to break in with another speech but Miranda cut her off and took the fork from her. Andrea looked at her in shock. "No. I'll keep the fork for a moment thank you. It's obvious you like waving it around far too much. Now, as I was saying, that line is old and used far too often and, you are correct when you say that no one would want this once they knew the truth of the business. Everyone sees the outside and the outside is glorious, even you can't refute that. However, I do hope you realize that this outside world—is not all I am."

Miranda paused for a moment to take a drink. She was thankful that Andrea was able to keep her mouth shut because she wasn't sure how many different ways she could make the girl be quiet so she could get out what she wanted to say. Well, that wasn't completely true, there were a few other ways-oh, God. Andrea had been right when she this was borderline ridiculous.

She took a deep breath and decided to wrap this thing up before it lasted forever. They could probably spend the rest of the day going in a circle if she allowed it. "Andrea, I'm only going to tell you this once so look me in the eye and pay attention. I'm sorry. I apologize. I can assure that I now know where my judgment was misplaced. I should have told Nigel, I should have told you, and I should have never once underestimated you, and I apologize for it."

"What? Underestimate me?"

Miranda rolled her eyes "I say that I'm sorry and all that you take from it is that I underestimated you? Andrea…you have no idea what a force of nature you are. You've turned my life upside down- you've _been_ turning my life upside down since the day I met you. I have never met someone that was and is one contradiction after another. _Never._ You're like a hurricane that just gets stronger. Look at you! You're sitting here telling me off-could you have done that a year ago? I think not. Now take my apology for what it is worth and let's try to move on. Can we do that?"

Where in the bloody hell did all that just come from? Wait –_bloody hell_? Great, now she sounded like Emily. Fabulous.

Miranda expected another tirade from Andrea but she didn't get it. Andrea merely sat back and looked at her like she had two heads. Miranda waited for her expression to change and tried to keep her cool. The last thing she needed was to blow her top if Andrea did not understand her. Suddenly, Andrea was reaching across the table and taking her hand. It felt cool and strong, and it made Miranda light headed.

"Miranda, I'm only going to tell you this once so look me in the eye and pay attention. We're done with this and we're moving on. I needed you to know how I felt and why things ended the way they did. I've wanted to tell you all this for a long time but I was a coward. We both should have done things differently, but now – now it's over. Done. I don't ever want to talk about this again. Can we do that?"

All Miranda could do was grip her hand and give a weak nod in the affirmative. Once she recuperated, Miranda took her glass of water up with her free hand and made a toast "Well then, thank God for Doctor Kennedy."

Fourteen hours, thirty minutes and two seconds into the day….

_MP: Are you awake or do I need to call 911?_

_Kennedy: Awake now. Have been for a while. Did you go to lunch or did you chicken out?_

_MP: I did not chicken out. _

_Kennedy: well WTF tell me how it went!_

_MP: Your language is deplorable. It went well. What are you doing?_

_Kennedy: -rolling eyes. Checking my Tumblr for new pictures of Meryl. So what do you mean when you say–went well?_

_MP: I mean…she ripped my head off then everything was is a waste of brain power._

_Kennedy: no-Tumblr is awesome. So wow- you survived?_

_MP: Yes. I only just now left. I'm in the car headed back to work._

_Kennedy: Go you for taking a long lunch._

_MP: I had no choice…time got away from me actually. _

_Kennedy: And so it begins. Are you meeting again? Please say yes or I'll kill you._

_MP: She is going to email me and let me know when she can._

_Kennedy: Whoa...that's different. I thought you were usually the one doing that?_

_MP: Yes, well-this is decidedly different. I'm just thankful she didn't kill me._

_Kennedy: Me too. Just chillax and see what happens. Did you like-bare your soul and all that?_

_MP: No…perhaps a small amount. I was busy trying to breathe. I think it's a little too soon for that don't you?_

_Kennedy: Yeah -but I'm thinking good thoughts._

_MP: As am I. I will speak with you later hopefully-if you can rip yourself away from Tumblr._

_Kennedy: k-bye. Oh and YOU'RE WELCOME._


	3. Chapter 3

Title: A Thousand Little Things  
>Pairing: MirandaAndy  
>Rating: Not sure-a tiny bit of language but that's it.<br>Disclaimer: I don't own them but I wish I did!

Note: This has not been looked after by anyone so please take the mistakes as they are. If you have any suggestions please INBOX me. Also please leave comments- they are very much appreciated!

A Thousand Little Things

Three weeks came and went and only by the grace of God and Coco Chanel, Miranda managed to survive. There was no more slicing and dicing of food or any frantic fork waving, and those two things alone where enough to declare victory.

After their first meeting they somehow stumbled their way into an odd courtship comprised of phone calls, e-mails, texts, lunch dates and the occasional dinner. As agreed, Paris was never mentioned and Miranda didn't even bring up _Runway_ at all unless she needed to explain scheduling issues or Andrea directly asked her a question relating to her job. Frankly, Miranda was afraid to talk about _Runway_. She knew that if any '_Runway_ Attitude' latched its self onto whatever it was they were doing, she would likely be subjected to another fork and knife session. That was something she hoped to never experience again so she happily steered all conversations into other directions whenever possible.

Only one thing bothered Miranda. She was still suffering from that dreadful 'I have no courage' syndrome. Or maybe they both were. She couldn't decide. For everything that they _did_ talk about, there were huge elephants that roamed freely around them searching for water. They had names too- like 'what are we doing?', 'are we in a relationship?', 'are you my girlfriend?', 'may I kiss you?', and so on, and so on.

It certainly _felt_ like they were dating, and to anyone that cared to pay attention, it certainly l_ooked_ like they were dating. So they must be dating. That had to be it. Nevertheless, Miranda couldn't bring herself to verbalize the questions because she was afraid that if she did; it would turn out to not be true after all. The fact that Andrea wasn't paying any attention to the elephants either did not help matters. So, silence reigned.

One thing Miranda could do right though was make a considerable effort in the 'wooing' department. She had flowers delivered to Andrea at _The Mirror_ on several occasions, making sure to fill out the cards personally with a thinly veiled hint of romance. These cards stressed Miranda out more than any September Issue ever had. There were too many ways to screw them up and it wasn't like she had a stack of cards and team of people to help her decide what sounded right. She only had herself, her pen and a large cash reserve to tip the messenger who waited patiently.

Andrea made those same considerable efforts as well. Within the first week Miranda received a package containing a stack of 4X6 lined Post-it Notes in a variety of colors and a large red Sharpie. There was a note inside the box that read: _For those times when it's really, really, really bad._ Miranda could hardly control the smile that threatened to reveal its self at the most inopportune moments for the rest of the day. Miranda also received a new, never tried before drink from Star Bucks every couple of days with a note tucked into the cardboard sleeve. She drank every single one of them without complaint.

The best thing so far was the nightly phone calls. Neither of them could remember who made the first goodnight call or who had returned the favor the next night but they kept at it. It didn't matter how late it was or if someone got woken up in the process, the call was always made regardless. Miranda noticed an immediate improvement in her sleep. It was easier to close her eyes and relax knowing that Andrea had not decided to run from her that day.

Even with all these good things happening, it wasn't enough for the _Match Maker_, aka Doctor Kennedy. She and Miranda had two rooftop meetings since all this craziness began and Kennedy felt like they were behind, especially since they had not even kissed. It drove her to near madness when Miranda told her that they called each other every night before going to sleep. Kennedy's exact words had been "You're killing me. You're both freaking killing me! You call each other every night but you can't get it together long enough to kiss? Holy shit, do I need to write you a 'how-to manual'?" Probably.

Apparently if it had been left up to Kennedy, they would be married by now with a couple of babies on the way. Miranda just shook her head and chuckled every time Kennedy texted her with "You are both EPIC FAILS". She got that text at least every other day. Epic Fail or not, Miranda couldn't bring herself to push. Kennedy would just have to sit back and remember that she had been the one to tell Miranda to "Just chillax and see what happens".

Friday night was here and Miranda was sequestered in her study pouring over the book. What she really wanted to do right now was talk to Andrea, but that wouldn't be happening just yet. Andrea had called her around five that afternoon and told her that it would be late tonight when she would be free to talk. Fabulous.

Apparently there had been some sort of pileup on the Brooklyn Bridge and she was sent to cover it and try for some interviews at the hospital. Miranda was already starting to hate anything that kept them from seeing or talking to one another. It was childish. It was selfish. Who cared? She wasn't quite use to not getting what she wanted yet. That would take a while.

Miranda wasn't even into her work for a full ten minutes when the house phone rang. She was a little surprised when she looked at the caller ID. It was her neighbor. Kennedy never called her house phone, which meant it had to be Karen, Kennedy's mother. Miranda hoped that nothing was wrong.

"Hello, Karen?"

"Hi Miranda. I'm so sorry to call you at this hour. I hope I didn't wake you."

"No, no, of course not. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, and no. It's Kennedy-"

Miranda's chest clinched and she cut Karen off "What is it? What happened?"

"Calm down she is physically alright. But I need your help."

"Karen, get to the point before I go ballistic. What do you mean she is physically alright?"

"Miranda, there was a four car pileup this evening on the Brooklyn Bridge. A lot of the victims were brought to Lenox Hill….Miranda she lost two children today."

They were both silent for a moment. This had happened once before and it had gripped Kennedy by the throat. In her line of work it was obviously not uncommon to lose a patient; but the difference in losing an adult and child was beyond comprehension. Miranda knew what she had to do.

"Where is she Karen?"

"She's here. On the roof. She's been up there for about thirty minutes and hasn't come down yet. She wouldn't speak to me about it when she got home."

"I'm on my way. And Karen…don't ever hesitate to call me, alright?"

"You're a good girl Miranda. I appreciate this."

Miranda hung up the phone and remained still for a second. She couldn't go up there upset. That was the last thing Kennedy needed. She wondered briefly if she should call Andrea. This was the very same pileup that she was covering right now. What kind of shape would she be in when this was over? Miranda would just have to trust that Andrea would call her and allow Miranda to be there for her when she was ready.

Slipping her cell phone and a handful of tissues into her pocket, Miranda headed up to the roof. Kennedy usually had a small battery operated lantern turned on but it was pitch-black outside. If she had already gone back inside, Miranda was fully prepared to barge into the house and carry out her plan. Just as Miranda started to get her phone out to call Karen for location update, she saw the burning end of cigarette.

Miranda carefully stepped over the two foot ledge and silently made her way to her friend. She was slumped back in a chair with her head hanging off the back. Miranda took up the chair beside her and pulled it close, gripping her hand. Kennedy's hand, however, remained limp in hers and that was fine. Miranda knew this would take a while and she let the time go by in silence. When Kennedy finally gripped her hand firmly, Miranda took that as the sign she had been waiting for. She stood a little and pulled the chair around to face Kennedy close enough that their knees were touching

"Talk to me."

That was all it took for Kennedy to break. She bent over, placing her elbows on her knees and her face rested in her hands. Miranda put a hand gently on Kennedy's back as her cries of grief took over. What do you say when your friend is in so much pain? Miranda instinctively knew that right now Kennedy didn't need to hear anything at all. She just needed to get out of her system. The bulk of the talking and reassuring would come later.

Kennedy began to talk in between the onslaught of tears and Miranda had to lean down and rest her head against Kennedy's shoulder in order to hear her.

"Miranda I failed. I failed…"

Miranda slid her arm all the way around Kennedy's back and hugged her. "No…You did not fail. I know you don't see that now but it's the truth."

Kennedy started to fight her way out of Miranda's embrace but she hung on. There was no way in hell she was letting Kennedy run. Kennedy finally relented and stayed in place. "You weren't there; you don't know…That's my job Miranda. To…to keep people alive. That is my job." Miranda hugged her with both arms and held her tight. If everyone that thought Miranda was a tyrannical bitch with a frozen heart could see her now, they would drop to their knees and beg for forgiveness.

Kennedy continued to cry against her shoulder while Miranda fought back her own tears. After all these years it finally hit Miranda that her own job didn't mean shit. Running an empire, making or breaking designers; that was nothing compared to this. Her eyes stung when she thought about how selfish it was to think you were so important when you really weren't anything at all. People like Kennedy were the real deal and most of the time people like Kennedy didn't even realize how special they were.

Miranda got a hold of her thoughts and put the second phase of her plan into action. She gripped Kennedy's shoulders and pushed her upright. "Kennedy, look at me. You did your job. Some things are out of your control, but that doesn't mean you didn't do your job."

Kennedy rubbed her eyes and relaxed back against the chair. "Miranda, I couldn't save a little boy who was only three years old…and I couldn't save a girl who was only thirteen. How is that doing my job? I should have been able to do that. I've done it before-why in the fuck couldn't I do it today? Tell me. Tell me why in the hell did that bastard have to fall asleep at the wheel? Tell me why I held a held year old little boy whose head was practically split open because his bastard father didn't put him a car seat. Tell me…"

Kennedy began to cry again but it was quieter this time. Miranda could feel the tears in her own eyes spill out. It was almost painful for Miranda to see Kennedy like this. She leaned back in her chair and they regarded each other silently. What's the answer? After all these were all good questions. How do you tell somebody that life is just fucked up that way? Do you dare say the over used 'there is a reason for everything' line? No. Miranda hated it when she heard someone say that. Even if it was true it was bullshit line to say to someone at a time like this. That left only one answer.

"Kennedy I don't know. I wish to God I did…but I don't. Honestly I don't think there are any answers. A thousand little things had to happen today to bring it all down to this horrible end and you didn't have one thing to do with any of those. You did the absolute best job you possibly could. You must know that…"

"The father made it. He should have died…it took them forever to that girl out of the car. She…she…her lungs were just… The two cars behind them were just crumpled together. It took them four hours to clear the scene since the third car decided to go up in flames…someone's grandmother literally burned to death before the fire could be put out. All this because some asshole drinks himself to sleep… Why do I do this Miranda? If I can't control the outcome-why in the _hell_ do I do this?"

Miranda leaned forward and took her hands "Kennedy you do this because you were given a gift. Look at your hands. These are a gift. You use them every day, and you give your gift to everyone within your reach. Just because you cannot always control the outcome, doesn't mean you should throw it away. In fact it means the direct opposite."

"I don't know Miranda…I don't know. I can't go back to work tomorrow. I need a day."

That wasn't about to happen. Phase three of 'Save Your Only Friend' was about to begin. She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and handed it to Kennedy. "Dry your eyes. Wipe your face off."

Kennedy silently did as she was told and Miranda was thankful that her authoritative tone worked on the woman for once. Miranda had to get Kennedy put back together if she was going to back to work tomorrow. And she _was_ going back to work tomorrow. If she stayed home Kennedy would just sit right here on the roof and think herself into oblivion. Miranda couldn't let that happen.

Kennedy's eyes and face were dry so Miranda took the tissue away from her and stuffed it back in her pocket. "Alright. You're going back to work tomorrow. I know you don't want to. But you can and you will. If I have to carry you there myself, you _will_ go back tomorrow. I will not allow you to sit here and rot on this roof. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah…I think so."

"Do more than think so. You need to know so. You need to know that you will be alright. You _will_ push thru this and come out clean. I'm not letting you have any other choice."

She tilted Kennedy's chin up and looked her in the eye "After all, remember what you told me a few weeks ago? I'm Miranda Fucking Priestly, right? Who would I be if I gave you choices?"

Miranda let out a small breath when Kennedy chuckled softly. This was better. This was what she had been looking for. She knew Kennedy would be okay now.

When Miranda left the roof it was almost mid-night and it had started to rain. Whatever concern she had for The Book, had flown out the window and crashed into the street. That thing could burn up right there in the study and she wouldn't have cared. The rain was coming down in sheets by the time she was out of her clothes and into her robe. Fabulous.

On her way down to the kitchen she checked in on her girls. Caroline was sprawled across the bed with a book opened on her chest. Miranda stared down at her like she had never seen her before. She studied Caroline's face, burning it into her memory. If she ever lost her children she didn't know how she would ever survive. Miranda put the book on the floor and pulled the covers over her. She kissed her forehead and went across the hall where she found a direct copy of what she had just left behind in the previous room.

Miranda studied Cassidy's face just as intently as she had Caroline's. It always baffled her when people could not tell them apart. To her they looked nothing alike. Maybe it was just because she'd been looking at them for almost twelve years. Cassidy was laid out all over the bed just like her sister only she had a Runway magazine opened on her chest. Miranda couldn't help but smile. Cassidy was always attentive to anything Miranda ever showed her about the business. Who could know where that girl would end up one day? She very well might take Miranda's job from her in a handful of years. When she lifted the magazine off her chest, Cassidy turned over and buried her face in her pillow.

By the time Miranda made it down the kitchen, Andrea still had not called and it was still raining. Miranda felt mentally drained. No, wrong word choice. Try emotionally drained. She hadn't felt emotionally drained like this in no telling how long. The ordeal with Kennedy still weighed heavily on her mind and she prayed to God that Kennedy wouldn't need a personal escort to work in the morning; but if that's what had to happen-then it would happen.

Miranda took another sip of wine and contemplated going to bed but she knew she couldn't sleep. There was no way that was happening. She would only lay there and stare at the ceiling until she heard from Andrea and that could just as easily be done right here on a kitchen bar stool. Her hands traced patterns over the marble bar top while her mind took a detour.

She thought about Andrea's hands. The first time they had lunch, Andrea had taken her hand across the table and it took Miranda's breath away. Every time they met since then, their hands ended up finding each other for a brief moment. Andrea's fingers were long and slender and her hands gave off the fake appearance of a weak grip. That was anything but the truth. Miranda smiled when she thought about the slight calluses on the sides of the first two fingers of Andrea's right hand. She had seen the way the girl could grip a pencil or pen and that would put a callus on anyone's fingers. God, when had she become so sentimental? Maybe she was just tired. Brain dead? Delirious with desire? Probably all three.

Whatever the cause, Miranda knew it was time to step up the plate and make a move. Tonight had reminded her that life was too short. She needed to kiss Andrea. She needed to do a lot of things, like get a hair cut and go _back_ to the eye doctor for the second time in three months, but kissing Andrea was well above the top of the list. Now all she needed to do was figure out how to make that happen.

At exactly one hour and seven minutes into the new day, there was a knock at the door. It startled Miranda out of her daydreams and almost scared her. Who could be at the door at this hour? Well there was only one way to find out. Miranda slid off the bar stool and headed down the hallway to the front door, flipping a few lights on as she went. A taxi could be seen thru the front window and she instantly knew exactly who it was. When Miranda threw the door open she stopped dead in her tracks.

Andrea was standing there in the rain already soaking wet. She looked pale and cold and as if she had been crying. Tonight had been a crying night for everybody apparently. Just as she was about to tell Andrea to get her silly self into the house, Andrea moved forward. Miranda backed up and Andrea just barely came thru the door before she stopped. Any thought of closing the door was put on hold until Andrea moved out of the way.

"Andrea, what is it? What's the matter?" Was Andrea about to tell her that they couldn't see each other anymore? Was she leaving? What?

Suddenly Andrea was finally talking "Miranda, I just…I just wanted to do this one thing and then I'm going home to sleep…but I just had to do this first."

Before Miranda could even ask her what exactly it was that she needed to do at this ungodly hour—Andrea was doing it. Miranda inhaled sharply as Andrea stepped toward her and wrapped her arms around her waist. Her robe was instantly soaked due to Andrea's rained out clothing, but who cared? Miranda certainly didn't.

"I need to kiss you Miranda."

Miranda took a deep breath as her heart raced. "I find that quite agreeable."

Andrea tightened her grip and they met in the middle. The kiss was hesitant for about one second and then the dam broke. Miranda had never felt so possessed in her whole life. Andrea never released her tight hold on Miranda as she deepened the kiss that was full of desperation and almost some sort of fear. Miranda brought her hands up to Andrea's face and gently held her head in place. She was determined to make this last as long as possible. As soon as she touched Andrea's face their kiss went from desperation to hunger.

Miranda broke away just slightly to bite and tease Andrea's bottom lip and Andrea let out a moan that had to be from somewhere deep within her. It fueled the fire they created and Miranda wrapped her arms around Andrea's neck and dug her hands into her wet hair. She felt herself almost being held up when Andrea's tongue began to tease her own, which was good because she wasn't sure she could stand up anyway.

This whole kissing thing was turning out to be the best, most unexpected thing that had ever happened to Miranda. When Andrea left her mouth in favor of placing a hot trail of kisses down Miranda's neck, she was sure that passing out was in her near future. She was also sure that she had never, ever felt this much passion for someone. Ever. Now that she knew what she had been missing, she drew Andrea back up to her mouth and kissed her with an almost painful force causing them both to gasp for air a moment later.

By now they had both lost all strength in the intensity of it all. Andrea seemed to sense this and held her tightly again. It felt so good to finally be able to embrace each other. They had shared a chaste hug all of two times in three weeks and that could never compare to this. Miranda buried her head in Andrea's face and neck and tried to catch her breath. "Andrea, are you alright?" Miranda whispered as she managed to pull herself together enough to look up into her eyes.

Andrea smiled weakly "Yeah…I'm good… I'm okay. I just…I'm sorry I just needed to do that before I went home." Andrea gently grasped Miranda's shoulders and pushed her back a little. She brushed Miranda's tussled hair back from her face and looked into her eyes. "I'm going home now Miranda. You need to get some sleep." Her voice was hardly above a whisper. "I will call you later…whenever I wake up. Okay?"

Miranda couldn't help herself. She kissed Andrea tenderly and pulled her in again by the wet lapels of her jacket. "Yes…call me."

Andrea kissed her forehead and pulled away "Goodnight Miranda."

Miranda stood there and watched Andrea walk out of the still open door and into the rain. Wait. This wasn't right. There was more wasn't there? Miranda had more to say and what was the point in waiting? Really what was the point? There was no point. Wasn't it Miranda that was always talking about making a choice and taking care of things yourself and blah, blah, blah? Before she even finished reasoning it out in her mind, she was down the stairs and out into the rain. "Andrea, wait!"

Andrea turned around at the sound of Miranda's raised voice with a look of shock on her face. "Miranda what are you doing! It's raining and you don't have any shoes on."

Miranda brushed her soaking wet hair out of her face. "I don't care about shoes. I need to tell you something before you go home."

Andrea chuckled. "Well what is it woman, we're drowning out here."

"You have to know that I love you. You have to know that now before you go home. I've been waiting for over a year to tell you that and I can't wait any longer." If Andrea couldn't return that declaration it didn't matter. Miranda just had to get it off her chest. It had been waiting inside her, beating at the door for a very, very long time. Miranda reached up and brushed water off Andrea's cheek "Go home Andrea. Call me when you wake up. Not a moment later alright?"

Andrea closed the short distance between them and kissed Miranda slowly. "I love you too Miranda. Even when I tried to hate you, I was still in love with you. That's why I left. I thought I could never have you. I was going to do it later but… "

Miranda had to raise her voice again as the rain picked back up "It doesn't matter now Andrea…it doesn't matter." She cupped the back of Andrea's neck and drew her in for another deep kiss. She ended it quickly then pushed her back. "Go home before I refuse to let you. Go home."

And just like that, all the elephants in the room got their drink of water and were released. Miranda hoped she never saw those godforsaken things again.

As soon as the taxi took off, she turned and went back into the house. How did all that just happen? Miranda closed her eyes and leaned against the door. She needed something strong to back her up otherwise she would likely end up on the wet floor. How could you feel so crazy yet have such a feeling of clarity all that the same time? Suddenly, Miranda remembered something she had told Kennedy just hours earlier 'a thousand little things had to happen'. Yes, exactly. Thousands of little things had been leading them right here the whole time.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Office Drama and Vulcan Logic (Part 4 of the I've Missed You series)

Rating: There is some mature language—so deal with it

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I wish I did.

Summary: Eventually you will see that the title speaks for its self!

Note: This one didn't stress me out nearly as bad as Part 3. Thank God. To top it off at the end of Part 3 I wasn't even sure if I could do a 4 ( I know I say that at the end of almost all these but I was really serious this time) BUT when I woke up the next morning—Part 4 was right there already laid out in my mind. As I've said before – sometimes I really love waking up in the morning. Enjoy this one. It's light one but slightly longer.

**Office Drama and Vulcan Logic**

Nine hours and forty-five minutes into a beautiful Wednesday morning…

Today was turning out to be anything but good for Alexandra Hughes, aka Second Assistant, aka Emily's chew toy. Since seven-thirty this morning she had been on the run and that wasn't likely to change unless Miranda died. And even then she would still have a million things to do. Oddly enough Miranda wasn't even her real problem. It was Emily that made her want to jump off the top of the Elias-Clark building on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. The better she was at her job, the more Emily hated her. Alexandra tried hard to not give much of a fuck, but today was just not the day for her nerves to be tested.

Alexandra finally got a chance to rest when Miranda sent Emily out to run a few urgent errands. She had a hunch that Miranda needed a break from Emily just as much as she did. If someone would just prescribe Emily some Valium, Zanax, hell anything really– their lives would all be better. For now Alexandra would just be satisfied to sit here and be thankful to not hear the constant 'bloody-hell' this and 'bloody hell' that. It was indeed a slice of heaven. Now if someone would just cut the phone lines that would be even better.

"Good morning, Miranda Priestly's office."

"Hey Alexandra, how's it going?"

"Don't ask Andy. I assume you're making a coffee run?"

"Yep and it's about time too. I missed out the past two days. I really appreciate your help and your silence."

"Please, this is the coolest thing ever. I still don't think she realizes that I know. Hell, I don't even know if she realizes how these drinks make their way up here. She's never seen me leave and return with them that I know of."

"Never assume that you know what she sees and doesn't see. She likes you, you know that right?"

"Yeah about as much as she likes Irv. Well, I shouldn't say that. She has to like me better than Irv. I mean who wouldn't, right?"

"Right. Hey I'll be outside in about three minutes."

"Meet you there."

Alexandra made a quick call to Serena to come cover the phones while she went to the bathroom. As long as _someone_ was manning the desk and she wasn't gone for too long, Miranda didn't seem to mind her brief disappearances.

As soon as Serena came around the corner, Alexandra took off. "Thanks Serena I owe you one."

Two minutes later she was walking down the steps of the Elias-Clarke building. "God, Andy you look gorgeous. I could kill you for those boots."

"You wouldn't want them, they hurt like hell but they go with these jeans so what's a girl to do?"

"Well you still look fabulous. What's the order today?"

"Her once-a-week White Chocolate Mocha. I asked her last night if she wanted to know how many calories are in one of those things and she totally blew me off."

Alexandra started to laugh then stopped short "Shit, give me the drink." She ripped it out of Andy's hands. "Hurry up and get out of here. It's Emily and I think she's seen you."

Sure enough Emily was stalking toward them. "Oh, my and what in the bloody-hell are you doing here Andrea? I can't believe you have the nerve to even stand on these steps." Emily looked her up and down and then looked at the coffee in Alexandra's hands and gasped "You! You've been bringing her coffee! Does she….does she know that? Bloody-hell she will kill you.

A moment of silence passed between the three of them but Emily still wanted her answer "I said does she fucking know? Wait…oh God. You've been….oh God." Emily was no doubt replaying every mysterious delivery by messenger, all those coffees that Miranda had not even requested, and all those times that Miranda was texting on her phone. Yes, Emily was having a full-blow panic attack. Alexandra almost couldn't believe that Emily had caught on that quickly.

Andy stepped forward and placed a hand on Emily's shoulder. "It was nice to see you Emily, I better be going now." She turned and took off down the side walk while Alexandra continued to watch Emily's jaw hit the ground. This was just fucking great. Of all days-today had to be the one. The only thing left to do now was to get upstairs as fast as possible. She had to let Miranda know.

"Well Emily, I would offer to help you get all those bags out of the car but as you can see…my hands are full." Alexandra said while motioning to the one cup of coffee she was holding and ran up the steps.

As soon as the elevator door opened she stormed down the hall, right into Miranda's office and shut the door behind her. Miranda raised her head from her lap top "What? Is something on fire somewhere? Is that my coffee?" She raised her eye brow and Alexandra swallowed. It was suddenly very hot in this room. Alexandra couldn't think of any better way to do this than to just say it.

"Miranda she knows. Emily saw us."

Miranda took her glasses off and Alexandra couldn't remember a time when Miranda had given her such a death stare. Alexandra banged her head against the back of the door as she heard Emily make her entrance outside and release Serena back to her own duties. She sounded completely and totally beyond pissed off.

"Hello? Alexandra, did you fall down the stairs and not inform anyone of your injury? What is the matter? What in God's name does Emily supposedly know? If you cannot speak come back at another time. That's all."

"No...no. That is not _all_ Miranda." Alexandra took a deep breath and put the coffee in front of Miranda and sat down in front of her.

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Get on with it; I have ten minutes before I need to go meet with James Holt."

Okay. If Miranda wanted to get straight to the point then by God…"She saw Andy give me your coffee and from the way she reacted…it wasn't good Miranda."

Miranda leaned back in her chair and chewed on the end of her glasses for a second. "And what exactly is it that you think she knows besides where this came from?" Miranda held up the coffee then took a drink.

"Well…she…you…" Alexandra looked behind her just too double, triple check that the door was still closed "Miranda. I know the two of you are seeing one another." Miranda sat up and started to speak but Alexandra just kept going "Andy did not tell me. I figured it out on my own. Believe it or not sometimes you don't hide your true feelings very well. Sometimes they leak out. I'm sorry but you nearly …"

Miranda cut her off "Stop. Stop. Get a hold of yourself. You're babbling. Come with me to the Holt meeting and make sure to tell Nigel I want the proofs from that ridiculous reshoot on my desk by the time I get back. That's all."

Alexandra jumped up and headed out the door to call Nigel and get their coats and bags. She hoped that sometime between now and next week she would find her sanity again. What a fucked up day.

Miranda was going to have to become a Catholic soon for all the 'Hail Mary's' she was saying these days. She had half a mind to let Alexandra ride in the elevator with her but she needed a second to check her text messages. Just as she suspected, there were four waiting for her from Andrea.

_Andrea: OMG EMILY SAW ME_

_Andrea: You seriously need to look at your phone woman. _

_Andrea: This is NOT Alexandra's fault so I will KILL YOU if anything bad happens to her and then I will tell the WORLD how many calories you drink in WCM's a week!_

Nothing bad was going to happen to Alexandra. The threat of a calorie revelation on top of the fork and knife attack she would likely receive was more than enough to convince her of a better way to go about this. And the last message…

_Andrea: Did you fall down and hit your head or something? LOOK AT YOUR PHONE. Or are you too busy sucking down that WCM?_

Now that one made her laugh. Miranda sighed and sent a quick text as soon as she departed the elevator.

_MP: Calm down. Everything is fine. I am never drinking a WCM again. Come over for dinner – 8. Bye for now darling. _

_Andrea: Bout time you look at your phone. Thank you for not killing her. And whatever—you are a WCM addict now who will probably die if they ever take it off their menu. Bye-c u at 8. :o)_

Thank God that problem was solved. Miranda knew if she threw the 'darling' in there that Andrea would be more likely to believe that everything was indeed –okay. Now all she needed to do was get Alexandra to stop hyperventilating. Fabulous.

Miranda didn't speak until they were half way to their destination. "Alexandra. You've just been promoted to First Assistant. Emily will be going to Runway France. It's time. Way past time." Honestly, 'way past time' did not even begin to cover all the reasons why Miranda was making this decision right now but she was not about to share those with Alexandra.

She paused for a second and turned to Alexandra, taking off her sunglasses. "And you know as well as I do… she will not be able to handle this." Miranda waved a finger between herself and her White Chocolate Mocha. It wasn't just Emily's reaction she was worried about. Miranda knew the first time Emily said something nasty to Andrea in her presence, she would snap. Physical violence wasn't her thing but that could change in a heartbeat. So, it was best that Emily move on.

As if all this wasn't enough, Miranda's phone had been blowing up all morning with texts from Kennedy. For someone that was supposed to be working in an emergency room, Kennedy sure did have a lot of time on her hands today. Apparently the feature that Andrea had written on her was all wrapped up with a pretty bow on top and she wanted them all to go out to dinner. That was great but at this moment Miranda didn't know what was in the cards for the rest of the week and Kennedy wasn't eating that answer very well. Oh, well it could be worse. She would rather Kennedy be blowing up her cell phone than the alternative. Miranda had seen the alternative and it wasn't pretty.

If she made it thru the rest of the day without having some sort of small, private psychotic breakdown, she would be seriously surprised.

At seven-forty that evening Miranda came barreling thru the door. The rest of the afternoon with Emily had been anything but pleasant and she was ready to put it all behind her for a few hours. Emily was grief stricken that she was leaving, which was not at all what Miranda had anticipated. It got even worse when Emily found out that a replacement candidate was already coming for an interview in the morning. Miranda must have been suffering from a sugar overload when she agreed to consider Alexandra's old 'work buddy'. Whoever this 'buddy' was, they damn well better be fantastic.

Miranda threw her coat and bag into the closet and headed to the kitchen where she thought she would find everyone. Wrong. Totally empty. Miranda slipped off her heels and left them by her usual bar stool. Wine was definitely on the menu tonight. With a healthy glass in hand she went in search of her children. Hopefully they had not killed Andrea.

Let's back up for a second shall we?

_After the two of them had been released from Kennedy's 'Epic Failure Prison', Andrea began to come over to the house. Miranda was nervous at first but thankfully the girls just chalked it up to Miranda having another friend. It helped that they already knew who Andrea was and were actually quite fond of her to begin with. Apparently after obtaining those infamous copies of that dreadful Harry Potter manuscript – she was the best thing since 'sliced bread'. Whatever that meant. _

_But as luck would have it, the 'this is mommy's friend' line only lasted for three of Andrea's visits. Before the forth visit could even happen, everything was blown wide open all because Miranda entrusted the twins into Kennedy's care one night. _

_Miranda had a little dinner party to attend at some horrid designers home, much to her disliking, and due to the begging and crying of her girls, they were allowed to have a movie night with Kennedy. Star Trek here we come, right? Not exactly. Miranda had not even been at the party for forty-five minutes when she received a very thrilling phone call. _

"_Kennedy, they haven't tried to kill you already have they?"_

"_No Miranda. I'm still alive but probably not for long."_

"_And why is that? What have you done?"_

"_Why does it always have to be my fault?"_

"_Because it usually is. Now tell me-what did you do?"_

"_Technically nothing-yet. All that's happened so far is Kirk is about to go search for Spock's body and your daughters just asked me if you and Andy were dating."_

_Miranda coughed rather loudly and then there was some mumbling in the background and possibly a few curse words. _

"_Alright I just locked myself into some random spare bedroom; tell me you're not serious."_

"_I am very serious."_

"_You know this whole thing is your fault. I love you for it but I could certainly choke you right now." Miranda sat down on pile of coats that were laid out on a bed. "I hope you have some advice on this subject because even though I don't want it, I need it."_

"_Yeah…I honestly didn't see this coming. My Vulcan logic must be slipping."_

"_I'll say. Maybe you need more training. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of Vulcan Academy thing? What should I do? "_

"_You need to tell them the truth."_

"_Well I know that!"_

"_If you know that then why did you ask me?"_

"_Oh never mind, you drive me crazy sometimes you know that? Really, you do. Should I do this right now or wait till I get home?"_

"_I was thinking you should do it now…otherwise they won't leave me alone about it."_

"_Oh, so now this is all about what benefits you? This is fabulous. Positively fabulous. Put me on speaker phone and then prepare to raise them for the rest of their lives because I will probably die after this conversation."_

"_10-4, hang on."_

_Yes, on Miranda's next trip to Italy she would be making a special detour to go see the Pope. Maybe he could personally teach her how to say a rosary. Stranger things had been known to happen. _

_She stood up when the girls got to the phone. Pacing was better than sitting still at this point. Was this conversation really about to happen in some random house-in a 'coat room'? Really? _

"_Hello my girls…I understand you have a question for me?" The back of Miranda's neck started to hurt. What if they were upset? What if they told her they didn't want her to see Andrea? Miranda hated 50/50 situations and this was the mother of them all. More importantly, Miranda was 100% positive that she wouldn't be able to let Andrea go. So where would that leave them everyone when the dust settled?_

_Just as Caroline started to speak, Cassidy started giggling in the background. _

"_Shut up Cassidy! I'm trying to talk." Oh great, now they were going to fight instead of get to the point. _

"_Girls, no fighting. Now I am at this dreadful party stuck in the coat room-what do you need to ask me?_

_Cassidy beat Caroline to the punch "OMG Mom, all we wanted to know was: are you dating Andy? And I wasn't fighting with anyone. That was all Caroline, I swear."_

_Miranda sat back down on the bed again and rubbed the back of her neck some more. "Cassidy do not say OMG. That isn't even a word. And yes…yes girls I am…dating Andrea." _

_There was a collective "Wow" from the twins then Caroline jumped in "Why didn't you tell us before?"_

_Fantastic. There was nothing like getting court marshaled by your children. "I just didn't Caroline. I am sorry to say that I wasn't ready yet. Neither of us was ready but that is no excuse."_

"_Well I like Andy, don't you like Andy Caroline?" _

"_Yeah she's cool and she can play tennis on the Wii way better than Kennedy."_

_The girls went thru a round of giggling and Miranda could hear Kennedy defending her tennis abilities in the background. Well this certainly could have gone worse. _

"_Girls, I hate to break up your giggle fest but I need to get back in there so I can leave soon. Now – are we alright? Are you both ok with this?"_

_Caroline came up with the best answer imaginable "Momma we love you. Kirk is about to steal the Enterprise to go look for Spock. We gotta go. Hurry up and come home."_

_She could hear them rustling around and then Kennedy came back on the line. "Well…are you okay?"_

"_Yes. I must admit I never thought of them as so progressive...I wish I was at home right now so I could take about twelve aspirins but yes, I'm okay."_

"_You can't take twelve aspirins. Don't make me get all Doctor on you."_

"_Thank you for being there Kennedy. If they say anything else before I get home just handle it in whatever way you think is best. They might be more open with you…apparently, so just…"_

"_I got this Miranda. No worries. Come home when you can. Call Andy and let her know so she isn't blindsided. Knowing these two they'll call her as soon as they're out of my eye sight."_

"_I know. I should have never given them cell phones for Christmas. This is all so crazy…" Miranda couldn't believe she was so close to tears. Good tears for once. _

"_Are you happy?"_

_A smile spread across Miranda's face as she brushed a single tear from her eye "Yes. I'll be home soon. Bye for now."_

And now let's go back up to the present...

Miranda stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened. They were up there getting their little asses kicked by Andrea at tennis for the millionth time. "Hello! I'm home if anyone cares...and there's food too."

That was all it took to get three sets of feet clamoring down the stairs.

"Well it's nice to know I'm worthy of your presence after all." Miranda was wrapped up in the twins arms and Andrea found room to move in and kiss her 'hello'.

"Oh yuck, no kissing please. I'm still too young." Cassidy groaned and ran off to the kitchen in a crazy fit of laughter.

"Did you feed her sugar?"

"No, I swear. Did we have any sugar Caroline?"

"Nope." Caroline smiled sweetly and ran to find her sister.

"That means 'yes'. Why do you do this to me Andrea?" Miranda hadn't even noticed that her arms were wrapped around the girl or that she was kissing down her neck slowly right there in the hallway. Some things are just automatic.

Andrea moaned quietly "Um...me? M&M's never hurt anyone."

Miranda stopped her assault and looked up with a raised eyebrow. "I was not talking about the candy that you ply my children with."

"Oh...that." Andrea shifted out of Miranda's arms and ran her hands thru her long dark hair, only because she knew it killed Miranda to see any sort of 'hair play'. As soon as Miranda moved toward her again she took off for the kitchen leaving Miranda behind.

As Miranda watched her run to the kitchen it made her heart ache and reminded her that they were once again on Kennedy's 'Epic Failure' list since they had not 'done the deed' as she eloquently put it. That needed to happen soon. Every time they were alone for even five minutes, sometimes less, they were practically all over each other. Miranda let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. Apparently her courage meter needed another kick in the ass. Fabulous.

Dinner was done and two sugar crashed girls were in bed. Andrea was leaving in the morning for a two day trip to Washington D.C. for _The Mirror_ so Miranda was definitely not paying any attention to _The Book _until she left for the night. Besides, she still had to replay her fun day with the hyperventilating Alexandra and the pouting Emily.

They were in the living room and Miranda was folded up on the end of the couch with Andrea leaning against her with her feet propped up on the coffee table.

"Andrea, is it really necessary to flip thru every channel known to man? Give me that." Miranda took the remote from her much like the fork from a not so distant past.

"Hey! No fair." Andrea swatted at her hand and took the remote back.

"Fine, just pick one thing and I'll tell you all about the end result of your little coffee outing. All that channel flipping gives me a headache."

Andrea leaned up and kissed her "Don't pout. I'll put it on Rachel Maddow just for you."

"Ah you're so sweet." The sarcasm was mega thick here. "She is certainly delightful but the poor thing needs better clothes. I should send her something." At least she was serious about that part.

"Actually that's a great idea. I've met her, she's really awesome. Now tell me-what did you do to Emily."

"Well, she's going to Runway France and Alexandra has been promoted. Simple as that."

"Wait. Emily finally gets a clue about us and you ship her off to France?" Andrea sat up on the couch and turned sideways to face Miranda.

Miranda rolled her eyes as Andrea moved. Oh boy. Thank god there weren't any forks in the living room. "Andrea, really. Emily has been with me for far too long. It is time she went and…spread her wings or whatever it is they say. Let her go to France and drive someone else crazy for a change."

"Oh my God! You really did it. You really sent her away because of us."

"Andrea. No, I didn't….well maybe I did but it's not as bad as it seems. Andrea she would have never, never been able to remain appropriate once she found out. Emily is enough of a distraction without added baggage."

"Oh, so now I'm added baggage?"

Oh, shit. This can absolutely not be happening. Miranda had to fix this post-haste. She moved over a bit and pulled at Andrea until she was on top of her, straddling Miranda's lap. This was instantly one of the worst idea's Miranda had ever had in her entire life. How was she suppose to talk, think, even breathe now? She could feel her face and neck heat up as Andrea rested her hands on Miranda's shoulders and stared down on her. Wasn't there something she was supposed to be talking about? Oh, yeah. The 'Emily thing', right? Miranda cleared her throat and rested her hands on Andrea's hips and tried to concentrate.

"Andrea, you are not baggage. I know that the timing of this move is not the most wonderful, but it was going to happen eventually. It was time for Emily to move on and Alexandra is more than capable-although I will hurt you if you repeat that." Andrea's smile had still not returned. What now?

Miranda caressed her cheek and cupped her chin "You even claim that she hates you so I can't fathom why you would have such a problem with this. The simple bottom line, as unappealing as it might be, is that I don't want to have to worry about what I would say or do the first time she said something that hurt you. Therefore, France."

Andrea brushed Miranda's hair back and kissed her forehead "You think that Emily will be the only person to say something about me or act out over the fact that we're together once we decide to 'come out'?"

"No, I don't. But I can tell you now that I am doing us all a favor. I wish you would just trust me in this Andrea."

"How is shipping Emily off to France doing her a favor? Besides the obvious location benefits?"

Miranda let her head drop back on the couch for a moment and closed her eyes. Would there ever be a time when Andrea didn't ask all the right questions at all the wrong times? Or right times? It must be the reporter inside her and there was probably no way in hell to put a lid on that.

Miranda lifted her head back up and opened her eyes. Here goes nothing. "Andrea as I've said before, you don't give yourself enough credit. How could it not have been obvious to you all that time you were working at _Runway_…or even obvious today…Emily has been infatuated with you this entire time darling."

Miranda pulled her a little closer and hoped she didn't fall right off the couch because from the look on her face, she was replaying ever single moment and line concerning Emily. When her eyes widened and her mouth fell open, Miranda realized she finally got it.

"Andrea, why do you think she always treated you so badly. It was her way of defending herself against you. Top that with how well you progressed in your position and it was just too much for her. Think of what this would do to her. Watching what we have, even from the distance of Runway, would be too much all over again. I can't have that walking around me every day. I can't have that affecting my work or my personal life."

Andrea leaned her head on Miranda's shoulder and Miranda wrapped her arms around her tightly. It was good to have her so close when they talked about things that weren't exactly the best of topics. This would have been hell to talk about over the phone.

"I love you, Miranda." Andrea whispered into her ear.

"I love you too darling. I know this wasn't a pleasant topic to discuss before you have to leave for two days. I apologize for that."

Andrea sat back up and ran her hands thru Miranda's hair messing it up beyond all reason. Miranda rolled her eyes. She claimed to hate that but honestly loved it. "Stop doing that."

"You know you love it. I really should be going soon. I want to at least get a few hours sleep before I head out in the morning."

"I wish you didn't have to go but I suppose you must if you're to keep up your success. I really did like the piece you did on Kennedy."

"I liked it too and since I am almost never happy with anything I write, that's saying something."

"I have something for you… for your trip, but it requires you to get up so I can go get it."

"What if I don't want to move?"

Miranda raised her eyebrow and moved her hands down Andrea's legs "If you don't move then you will _not_ be going to D.C. in the morning and my children will be getting a rather _loud_ and _lengthy_ sex education class right here at home. So?"

"You know we should do something about that…soon."

"I know. I was thinking the very same thing earlier. I know we agreed to take things _slow,_ but frankly darling my resolve is breaking rather quickly."

"Wow, great minds think alike. Either that or we're on Kennedy's Vulcan Logic wave length."

Miranda pulled Andrea in and kissed her hard. She moaned loudly in protest when Miranda pulled back and pushed her gently to the side. "Now sit there and look pretty. I'll be right back."

When Miranda came back in the room, Andrea was stretched out on the couch and it almost killed her right there on the spot. The hair, the tank top, the jeans, the everything, almost killed her. Why did the kids have to be home tonight and why did there have to be a place named Washington D.C.? Seriously?

"Do you want your gift or do you want to lounge around?" Miranda said playfully. She couldn't wait to see Andrea's face when she opened this. It has taken a lot for Miranda to hold herself back and not go all out but there was symbolism behind this gift. Spending Miranda's version of 'tons of cash' could come later.

Andrea sat back up and made room for Miranda. She had a hint of embarrassment in her eyes. Andrea did not like to receive gifts. Well it wasn't that she didn't like them, she just felt unworthy; which had officially blown Miranda's mind when she figured it out. How could someone so beautiful and some good feel unworthy of a gift?

Miranda took a deep breath and sat the gift bag on the floor between them. "Now, I wanted you to have this before you went on your trip. I know you hate it when I give you things…which is why I rarely do. Even if I don't like it I hope you notice that I do try to obey your silly wishes in that regard?"

"I know you do Miranda and I love you for it." Andrea laughed and kissed the pout that Miranda was currently forming on Miranda's lips.

"After I read your feature on Kennedy, I remembered something you told me a few weeks ago. About how you used your first check from a freelance article to buy that Montblanc pen that you worship but are too afraid to use…well…just open this please."

Miranda handed her the bag and Andrea immediately began pulling out all the tissue paper. When she froze and her face looked like it was going to break, Miranda was instantly reminded of the twins on Christmas morning. This was indeed the reaction she had been hoping for.

"Holy shit…" Andrea pulled out the Montblanc Messenger Bag and held it like it was a newborn baby. "Oh wow." Then she promptly hugged it tightly.

Miranda breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back against the couch. Mission accomplished. "I'm glad you like it. Now open it."

Andrea looked at her suspiciously and unzipped the bag. Inside was a matching black leather notebook that zipped up and inside that, a Montblanc fountain pen. "Oh God, Miranda this is too much. Way too much."

Miranda waved a dismissive hand in the air "No it isn't, I could have done far worse. It's not every day that one gets a chance to hobnob with members of the White House Press Corps. I wanted you to have it. That L.L. Bean satchel you insist on carrying around everywhere will simply not do in this situation."

Andrea promptly set everything back on the floor and straddled Miranda's lap again. Miranda inwardly groaned. As soon as Andrea left for the night one hell of a cold shower was in order. "I hope that you like it. I just wanted to give you something nice and you never let me…"

Her words were cut short as Andrea leaned in and cupped the back of her neck. "I love it. You're the best you know that?"

"Well I wouldn't go that far but…I am trying. Sometimes it's difficult to keep everything in balance but…I don't have a choice but to try."

"Ah, but remember we all make choices and blah, blah, blah."

"No, I've been proven wrong. What you've done to me is far outside my range of control or choice. C'est la vie. Now, kiss me please before I wilt away here. You know how I hate it when you dawdle."

"Yes, Miranda."


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Interviews and Bow Bridge

Rating: Read at your own risk…

Disclaimer: I don't own them but I wish I did.

Summary: Office drama continues and you finally hear from Andy. Yay….

Notes: Again this has not been read by a Beta…deal :o)

**Interviews and Bow Bridge **

Crazy. Miranda felt totally and completely crazy. Andrea was gone; albeit only a hand full of hours away, but it made her crazy. Crazy was not what she needed on the morning after the 'Emily and Coffee' Saga as she was beginning to lovingly call it. The full array of consequences from that little incident had not even begun to show up at the door. Literally. One of those consequences was due to walk thru it at any moment. Preferably sooner rather than later. Miranda was ready to get this over with and move on to the next item of what was bound to be a miserable, slow and painful day.

Alexandra's 'old work buddy' was due in fifteen minutes which by Miranda's standards meant in five. She had no idea who this girl was or even any clue of a work history but she had agreed to meet the 'work buddy' so she would, if only to keep the peace. Emily was already acting out enough as it was. The last thing she needed was a despondent Alexandra.

Miranda was busy looking at her cell phone for what was probably the hundredth time in two hours when she heard someone enter her office. "Yes, what is it?" Miranda didn't look up. Maybe if she kept staring at her cell phone, Andrea would suddenly send her a text.

"Miranda, the interview candidate is here." Alexandra said sweetly. That thick, sweet, tone annoyed Miranda but she realized it was Alexandra's way of also trying to keep the peace as well. Miranda finally looked up from her phone and glanced around Alexandra. She saw no one outside except a tall, slim, blonde guy that could have easily been on the pages of Gentlemen's Quarterly. Maybe he had been? Who knows?

"I see no one except that" she pointed over Alexandra's shoulder. "Did Emily drag your 'work buddy' into the bathroom to kill her before she had a chance to interview?"

Miranda rolled her eyes when Alexandra began to fidget. Now that, she couldn't abide. "Stop fidgeting and make a point quickly or you can call HR and have them look for your replacement as well. Who is that?" She pointed again.

"That…is Timothy Vaughn. My old work buddy. He is here to interview for the position of Second Assistant."

Miranda raised not one but both eyebrows and took her glasses off. Well this was interesting. Timothy truly did look like model material. Did he even know that? He was practically six feet tall and possessed a chiseled face that Nigel himself would probably flip out over. At least he was dressed well. A trendy, slim fitting suit by Hugo Boss told you immediately that he did indeed know a little something about fashion; maybe not women's fashion but fashion nonetheless. While not the most expensive label out there, it still looked good and that was what really matter. Although Miranda would probably never admit that.

"Alexandra, you will obviously never cease to amaze me. Why did you not inform me that I would be interviewing a _he_, instead of a _she_ today?"

"I didn't do it intentionally. It just never crossed my mind." Big lie.

"I usually reserve this question for the interviewee, but since you're here: what can he bring to the table?"

This question seemed to visibly lift Alexandra's spirits and she began to tick things off a mental list in rapid succession. "He's an organizational freak. He knows fashion-obviously, I mean look at him. He's smart and he knows his way around. Give him a chance."

Miranda rolled her eyes as Alexandra took a deep breath. "All right, send him in. That's all." Wait, what? Was she really about to interview Mr. Model Boy? Apparently she really was going crazy after all. Fabulous.

Miranda thoughtlessly shuffled some things around on her desk to appear busy as he walked thru the door. She could tell right away that he had been coached on what _not_ to do. He did not sit and he did not move to shake her hand. He merely stood straight and introduced himself.

"My name is Timothy Vaughn, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hm, yes well that has yet to be determined…Timothy. I assume that is your given name? Not some ridiculous nickname?"

"Yes, Miranda that is my given name."

Ok, he'd been coached on the name thing too, on both sides of the aisle. This really was interesting. Certainly far more interesting than thinking about why there were no new text messages on her phone.

Miranda finally looked up from the papers on her desk and peered at him over her glasses "And what do you think you can bring to the table, Mr. Vaughn?"

Timothy looked her right in the eye and said "Whatever you tell me to bring, I will bring."

Miranda leaned back in her chair and took her glasses off again. Was there some sort of cosmic shift happening around here? Did she need to take cover under her desk? Coached or not that was probably one of the best lines she'd ever heard. To top it off, at no time had an interview candidate been this bold and self confident. Andrea had been slightly bold but nothing like this.

"Hm…get Alexandra back in here and then you may go. That's all."

She looked back down at her paperwork and felt him leave.

"Alexandra, make sure he is here early in the morning. Get all of his credentials and HR needs attended to now. I want tech support notified to have his computer access and cell phone ready before I leave today and I want you to train him. Not Emily. She will merely muddy the water and I do not have time for that. You will train him over the weekend as well. The sooner we get this over with, the better off we will all be. That's all."

Miranda might change her mind tomorrow but at least for today, Timothy Vaughn was now her newest minion.

Meanwhile—In Washington D.C.

Andy was nearing the end of Day One of her D.C. trip and this was only her second time to be able to check her phone all day. It was full to the brim with text messages not to mention voicemails. She wasn't too concerned with the voicemails though because Miranda refused to speak to a machine. Andy shook her head as she scrolled thru her phone.

_Alex: OMFG She's acting like a lost puppy without you here! It's adorable and fucking scary all at the same time. _

Yes, it was definitely time for a phone call and she wasn't about to waste time by calling thru Alexandra. Andy dialed Miranda's private office line and waited. Usually it took Miranda a few rings to answer the phone so she was shocked when it was picked up right away.

"This is Miranda."

"Hey you."

"Hang on darling…" Andy could hear Miranda cover the phone a little but not near enough "Everyone out. Now. Get these layouts cleaned up or you can all go to work for Field & Stream. I shouldn't have to tell you what needs to be done since everything here is so completely hideous. Get it done. I don't care how late you have to stay to make it happen. This meeting has wasted enough of my time."

Had she just called Andy 'darling' in front of a bunch of people? Yes, she had. Granted those people didn't know who she was talking to, but it was still nice.

"Now…they're all gone. How are you? Are you having a good time?"

"I'm good, you know you didn't have to throw them all out. I could have called back later."

"Absolutely not. That would be beyond unacceptable and you know it. I haven't spoken too you all day."

Andy had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Miranda could be so totally cute sometimes. "Well I've missed you…I know it's not even been twenty-four hours but I miss you. I know it's dumb."

"No Andrea, it is certainly not 'dumb'. I'm about to go crazy without you near by. In fact I think I've already gone crazy. You'll never guess what I did today."

"You hired Alexandra's friend Timothy."

"What? How…the two of you need to be separated. Maybe I should send her to France along with Emily."

"Do that and you'll never receive a White Chocolate Mocha again."

"Hm…well. Anyway, I hired him. I don't know why, but I hired him. Since you seem to know everything tell me this, will I end up regretting it?"

"No, but I'm not telling you anything other than you're in good hands now."

"Do not say the word 'hands'."

"Why?"

"Because every time I hear the word 'hands' I think about yours, and seeing as how you have skipped the country, I don't really want to be thinking too hard about that. It upsets me."

Alexandra had been right. Miranda was like a little lost puppy. "Miranda I have not skipped the country."

"I know…I have to go now darling. Please call me tonight before you go to sleep. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll call. Bye."

Miranda sounded so pitiful. Who would have ever thought that Miranda Priestly was capable of sounding pitiful? Not Andy that's for sure. There wasn't anything she could do about that right now though. She was in a taxi headed back to her hotel to have dinner and begin a night of pounding away at her laptop. Andy had taken tons of notes and a recorder full of sound bites but she worked best when things were fresh in her mind. If she had to sacrifice precious hours of sleep to get the best writing out, then so be it.

Resting her head on the window, she watched the city pass by and it reminded her of Miranda. When Andy had worked at _Runway_, Miranda was forever looking out of the car window. Andy didn't know if Miranda was honestly seeing anything or not; but she was always intently looking out the window with a laser like focus. Maybe she was searching for the next big trend or the next idea for a shoot? Or maybe she had been trying to avoid being in such close quarters with Andy? Who knew what was going on in Miranda's mind back in those days?

Andy certainly knew what had been going thru her mind though. After about six months of working for Miranda, she began experiencing the weirdest day dreams. So weird that she considered having herself committed. After all, what sane person sits around and dreams about kissing Miranda Priestly? What sane person dreams about putting their hands all over every single inch of Miranda Priestly's body? No one. Except for Andy of course, because she thought about it all the time. And as if wanting her body wasn't enough to freak out over, Andy wanted more. She wanted it all, the good and the bad. Essentially, she wanted Miranda's soul and that had terrified her back then.

The idiot in her was naïve enough to believe that leaving would solve all her problems when in fact it just made them worse. It wouldn't have mattered if she had left during the 'Paris Debacle' or afterwards; the second she was out of Miranda's powerful gaze, everything multiplied ten fold. She tried dating it away; eating it away, working it away, but nothing ever healed her. Andy finally settled down to the possibility that this Miranda Priestly Virus was simply not curable and tried to move forward as best she could.

A little over a year later she found herself sitting down in a hospital cafeteria doing a quick 'get to know you' interview with Rebecca Kennedy, MD and if it hadn't have been for the doctors instant charm, charismatic craziness, and inability to keep her mouth shut, Andy would have never realized that the cure had been in front of her the whole time. The simple answer was: Just go back and try to start over. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

With Kennedy's generous pep talk and a verbal tranquilizer, she found herself having lunch with Miranda and it had been _on_ ever since. Shockingly enough, dating Miranda was far easier than Andy ever anticipated. Miranda was nice. Miranda was considerate. Miranda could talk with her and to her, not just _at _her. Miranda could love. Who knew? Apparently not any of her ex-husbands because if they had known, they would have stayed. But thank God, right? Otherwise Andy would have never gotten this chance.

Andy was still too insecure to understand what made her so different from Miranda's ex-husbands, besides the obvious fact that she was a woman. For all the bravado she put out there, Andy was very insecure about herself and her future with her. She was afraid that one day Miranda would figure out Andy was not something she didn't need. Especially if the press found out before Miranda was ready.

Andy had a trick to reduce her stress level when her nerves kicked into high gear though. She would just close her eyes and think about something good, like a kiss they had shared, date they had been on or even a simple phone call. Concentrating on those things gave her courage and lifted her spirit.

One of Those Moments

Into their second week they began the nightly phone calls. It was a little odd to Andy at first, when this tradition began, but after the second or third phone call it just seemed like something they were supposed to do every night. It felt natural and the conversations came easier with every one that passed. Andrea had been the one to call on this particular night which meant she was in bed ready to go to sleep. She liked to already be in bed or close to it when they spoke. It helped her fall asleep easier. Tonight Miranda was in a particularly rough mood. Things had not been good at work.

"So did you kill anyone?"

"No, I did not kill anyone, thank you very much. I managed to refrain from such activities, even thought it was rather difficult."

"Well, I'm proud of you. Why was it so bad? Did Jocelyn do something stupid again?"

"No, not exactly. Honestly I would rather not talk about it. If you don't mind."

"No…um…I don't mind. What do you want to talk about then?"

"Anything else but _Runway_. Anything else. Seriously. If I talk about that I will just get upset and that will not make this call very productive."

Andy tried not to laugh. Productive? What exactly would make this call productive? She might as well go ahead and ask. "Care to tell me what exactly would make this call productive or do I have to guess?"

"Argh, you were born to be a reporter. Always questioning and for some ridiculous reason I always answer you. Which is unnerving. I never answer people's questions."

"I know. It's nice that you answer mine though. You almost always did you know…before. Whether you realized it or not is another story."

"I realized it and against my better judgment I kept doing it."

"Do you really hate that Cerulean sweater?" Yes it was apparently time to play twenty questions.

"I will not answer that."

"Ooook then, fine be that way. What is one of your most favorite spots in New York City? And I don't mean somewhere that other people already know about or some place that is _fashionably cool_. I mean somewhere that is secretly one of your favorite spots."

"Hm…you're anything but boring I'll give you that much. Hang on."

Andy heard some rustling around and finally Miranda got back on the phone. "Whatcha doing?"

"Getting into bed if you must know. I finished the book early. I'm beat. Besides…I like to be in bed when we talk at night. It helps me sleep better."

Andy couldn't believe Miranda had just admitted that out loud and she was not about to tell her she felt the same way. It would be too much for her right now. This whole thing was weird enough as it was. She didn't even have a clue as to what they were even doing at this point. God was probably the only one that knew the answer to that question. So anyway…

"Are you settled and ready to answer my question now?"

"Yes and do not laugh at me or I will never speak to you again."

Yeah right "I will not laugh at you. Stop stalling."

"When did you become so bossy? Wait don't answer that, I don't want to know. Ok…for some reason I don't really think this would classify as a 'favorite' spot in the way that you mean it but…Ground Zero. I don't know why I thought you would laugh…but there it is."

"Wow…I have to say I never would have thought of that…for you. Why? I mean can you tell me why it's your place."

"Hm…I don't even understand it but I think it has something to do with strength. I know you weren't here then. It was difficult. When I see it now I feel some sort of resolve. I don't know…but it just makes me feel strong. " Miranda cleared her throat. "Shall we change the subject? That was rather depressing. What is your favorite place?"

Andy felt honored that Miranda shared that with her. After thinking about it for a minute she could see why it pulled Miranda in. Miranda was the definition of strength, so anything that embodied that probably meant something to her. Ground Zero was certainly the biggest thing around Miranda that was a visual representation of the word. She would have liked to ask Miranda more about that but she knew Miranda was done with the topic. Maybe another time.

"Well I'd rather show you my favorite place than tell you actually. If that would be ok with you…it's not like really, really public. Well okay maybe it is but it's not that bad. I don't think anyone would notice." Notice what? Them together? Notice the Queen of Fashion out in such a 'regular people' place? Shit.

"I think I could do that."

Really? "Ok. Tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll call you in the morning then. It's getting late. I have to get up pretty early…Goodnight Miranda."

"Yes. I will speak with you tomorrow."

And with that the phone went dead. Andy laid there with the phone on her chest and not ten seconds later the phone rang. Miranda.

"Hello?"

"I forgot to say goodnight… Goodnight Andrea."

"Thank you… Goodnight Miranda."

The Following Day

The phone call was made and Andy was allowed to call Roy and tell him where to go. She wanted Miranda to be surprised. Or something. Her favorite place was nowhere near as symbolic as Ground Zero but it was hers nonetheless. Andy had been coming to Bow Bridge in Central Park since the second week she lived in this city. It was peaceful and she was able to just mentally blow off steam. She came here a lot when she worked at _Runway_. A lot. There was one time in particular she thought Miranda should know about- so here she was. Andy was smart enough to bring coffee and some warm croissants.

Miranda was getting away at ten that morning by creating an emergency to go attend too. Emergency indeed. Oh well. Whatever it took for her to be here she was apparently willing to do it. That spoke volumes. Andy knew that Miranda would be really, really puzzle as to why Roy was coming along but it was for her own benefit. She wasn't sure Miranda would know where to go. She knew Miranda was not a park kind of girl so Roy would come along and escort her then take his leave. Andy could take her back to the car later.

As soon as Andy finished her thought, here was Miranda. Bow Bridge, watch out. The Queen of Fashion is about to walk upon you. Yikes. Andy hoped this hadn't been a bad idea.

Miranda looked good today. She always looked good but today she was just radiating something. She had on one of her classic power suits and a trench coat tied tight around her waist. She seemed to start walking faster when she saw Andy. Maybe that was just her imagination. Andy left the coffee and bag of croissants on the ledge and met her a short distance away.

"Hey." For some reason Andy suffered from a bit of bravery and reached out and hugged her. And surprisingly enough Miranda not only let her, but hugged her back. Oh hell, what was that all about? No time to think about it now.

"Hello. It's good to see you Andrea."

Andy led her over to the coffee "It's good to see you too. This sort of breaks up the time between the lunches don't you think?" Andy laughed lightly then took a sip of coffee to give her something else to concentrate on besides Miranda's face.

Miranda took a sip of her coffee and looked out over the water. Andy would kill to know what she was actually thinking. She was shocked that she hadn't been interrogated yet as to why they were here besides the obvious conversation last night.

"Yes it is. What's in the bag?"

"Buttered croissants. I like to bring them when I come here earlier in the day." She moved closer to Miranda and handed one to her wrapped in a napkin. Who wouldn't kill to see Miranda Priestly standing out here right now? This made her even more thankful that the bridge had almost no traffic on it today. It was good to be alone.

"These aren't bad. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Thank you for coming out here. I know this probably isn't anything that you're use to."

"I come to the park every now and then when the girls beg me but I must admit I don't do much walking around. In all the years I have lived here I have never seen this bridge. It's quite nice."

"Yeah. I like it. It just does something for me. I use to come out here a lot when I worked at _Runway_." Now they were both facing the water sipping their coffee. For some reason Andy couldn't look at Miranda right now. Not when she talked about this.

"Why did you come out a lot then?" Miranda kept her gaze firmly planted on the water in front of them just like Andy.

"Because when I was stressed out beyond belief every single day…this is just a good place. I mean look at it. It just screams peace. You should try it sometime."

There was a long moment of silence then Miranda spoke "I just might…if you were to come with me."

Andy wanted to look at Miranda so damn bad right now but she still couldn't. What the hell was up with that? "I would come here with you any time. I think you probably already know that."

"Yes, I might have."

"Would you like to know why this is my favorite place?"

"That's why we're here isn't it?"

"Right. Okay well…I know we agreed to not talk about this...and technically we aren't really so I think it would be ok. So here goes…after I left _Runway_, and Nate left, and all my friends left, I went thru a pretty bad time. I was having a hard time reasoning everything out." Andy paused and took another sip of coffee.

Miranda urged her to continue "Go on…tell me."

"The worst part was reasoning out everything with Runway…you. Anyway, that went on for a while and then I realized I needed to get a grip and get on with my life sort of. So I wrote a letter…to you."

As if on cue they turned and looked at each other for a split second then quickly turned back to the water and their coffee. "I wrote an eight page letter telling you everything. Why I was so mad at you…just everything. I almost mailed it to you but that would have been a disaster, and even now I am glad that I didn't do that. I needed to do something with it though. I couldn't keep it near me, so I brought it here. I stood right here and tore it into tiny pieces and dropped it over this bridge. I watched it float away then went home.

To her great surprise Miranda laid her hand on top of Andy's. Now Andy sure as hell couldn't look at her. Coward.

"That was a rather dramatic act…did it help you?"

"Not near as much as I had hoped. Being here with you now does." She griped Miranda's hand.

By the time Andy made her trip to Washington D.C. they made two other trips to Bow Bridge and had plans for more. It felt good to share this place with Miranda. As if she wasn't happy enough just to be in Miranda's life again, this had made her feel centered. It was a good thing.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: I've Missed You: Trouble in Washington D.C.

Author: Brithna

Beta: Peetsden

Fandom: The Devil Wears Prada – Duh

Pairing: Miranda/ Andy

Summary: I really can't bring myself to summarize this other than to say – Praise God! I'm updating this story!

**I've Missed You – Trouble In Washington D.C.**

"Miranda, you're killing me with the pen tapping." Nigel said as he rolled his eyes.

"Well excuse me Nigel; I had no idea that tapping _my_ pen, on _my_ desk, in _my_ office was something I needed to consult you about." Miranda put her pen down and straightened in her chair. "What else have you got for me besides those three skirts? I do not want to see any color blocking and color blocking is exactly what I'm looking at."

"Alright, I just thought they would make a nice addition. I'll make some calls. Are you alright Miranda?"

"Of course!" Miranda waved a hand through the air "Of course, I'm alright. Just because you're back from _Runway France_ now doesn't mean you get to play therapist. I'm sorry to inform you but I did _not_ get all 'touchy-feely' while you were away. Don't forget that we have a conference call at eleven. That's all."

Nigel departed without another word and Miranda breathed a sigh of relief. Was it that obvious? She was one day closer to having Andrea back home or at the very least within a twenty minute car ride away, yet she felt just as crazy as she had yesterday.

At least things in the office were going as decent as they ever could. Emily was sadly planted to her desk while Alexandra took Timothy on all the errand runs. Miranda had a feeling that Emily wasn't even going to be needed for much longer. Perhaps she could give the rest of that time to Emily as an added vacation? Maybe. For now all she cared about was watching the clock. Andrea was going to try and call her this morning when she caught a break. Speaking of which – her cell phone was going off.

"Hello darling."

"Hi. You haven't killed anyone yet have you?"

"No. I have not killed anyone. Why must you always ask that?"

"Because it is a very serious and honest question, that's why. I miss you. Like a lot."

"I miss you too. The girls are driving me insane wanting to know when you will be getting in on Saturday." Miranda got up and shut the door to her office, paying absolutely no attention to the look on Emily's face.

"Well, it's the same time as it was to begin with. My plane will land back in New York at three. My morning interview with Chuck Todd got canceled though but that's okay. He has agreed to do a video conference with me so I'm not worried."

Miranda started to tap her pen against the desk at a rapid pace again "So come home early then if you won't be doing any interviews on Saturday morning. Surely you can change your flight." She inwardly groaned. Was she really this pathetic?

"Hm, that would be a great idea, Miranda, but I have something else besides that on Saturday. I have an appointment at the library."

"The _library_?" What? How could that outweigh coming home and _who_ makes an appointment to go to a library? Only her Andrea.

"Yeah, hello. The Library of Congress. I was able to make some calls…there are some things I would like to see."

"Oh…well that sounds lovely darling." Actually it sounded boring and absolutely counterproductive to coming home. "What time should I expect your call tonight?"

"I'm not sure, probably around six if possible. Maybe sooner. I love you Miranda."

"I love you darling. Have a wonderful day."

Miranda hung up the phone and went back to her pen tapping. This was the worst day ever. Saturday felt like a hundred hours away. A few minutes later her cell phone started blowing up. Kennedy.

_Kennedy: What are you doing?_

_MP: Working of course. Are you at the hospital or are you lying in bed checking Tumblr?_

_Kennedy: You have an unhealthy fear of Tumblr. You should try it. I am at home but I'm packing._

_MP: I do not fear Tumblr. Where are you going?_

_Kennedy: Mother wants to go to her sisters in the Hamptons so we're leaving in a little bit. _

_MP: You have the weekend off? Impressive. _

_Kennedy: I'm calling you. _

Before Miranda could reply, her phone rang.

"Hello Kennedy. I can't stay on the phone long; Emily is going to start thinking I've lost my mind with all these closed door phone calls."

"Ah who cares? When is Andy coming home?"

Miranda sighed "Saturday afternoon around three. I'm a pathetic mess."

Kennedy chuckled "I know, I love it. It's perfect blackmail material."

"I hate you. Now did you want anything? If not, I'm about to hang up."

Kennedy cleared her throat and Miranda rolled her eyes. God only knew what the woman was about to say.

"Well I was wondering what you're doing this weekend?"

"Nothing but cooking dinner for her when she gets home. Why?"

"I was thinking you should go to D.C…."

"What?...What?"

"You heard me. Why is there even a question? Go to D.C. for the weekend. Let me take your kids to the Hamptons with us. I promise they'll return in one piece. You need to go down there and put that girl in bed. You two are about to burst into flames. Go to D.C. and throw her into bed like you know you want to. I'm tired of looking at your sad face."

It took Miranda a second to catch her breath. Why hadn't she thought of that? "First of all I do not have a sad face; secondly, I do not want to _throw_ her into bed." Miranda could feel her face burn. Okay, maybe she did want to throw Andrea into bed. Was that a crime? Certainly not.

"Come on Miranda. Go have fun. You. Her. No kids. A big bed. Go to D.C."

Miranda started tapping her pen again. At this rate she would either need a new pen or a new desk before this was over with. "You will keep my children in one piece?"

"Yes. I am a doctor after all."

"Oh yes, that is so comforting considering the last time the three of you went to the park Cassidy nearly broke her arm."

"That was so not my fault. Don't change the subject. Will you go? Leave work now and go pack. You can get in the car and be there by the time she's done with her day."

Miranda was already getting up and straightening her desk. "I will call Dalton and speak with the girls. They will be thrilled I'm sure. I'll let the school know you'll be picking them up."

"Make the calls and go get yourself laid. You're both 'epic fails'…_again_."

"Do not be crass. I'll call you when I'm on my way. Against my better judgment I feel the need to say that you do indeed have very good ideas sometimes."

Miranda hung up the phone as Kennedy started to laugh.

Within thirty minutes Miranda was in the car making a mental packing list. She decided to keep it simple and comfortable for once. Besides, she didn't really think she would be seeing much of the outside world for the next two days. Or at least she wasn't planning on it. She watched the city go by out of the car window and smiled. Kennedy was indeed full of some very good ideas.

* * *

><p>As the day wore on Andy became firmly convinced that the next time she caught herself complaining about being over worked, she was going to slap herself. She didn't know how people did this every day. Being a member of the Press Corps was certainly a privilege but it was also a killer. It was the sort thing that would leave you completely fulfilled but physically and mentally dead even on a good day. Andy knew if she were ever to get this type of opportunity she had a lot of hard work ahead of her, not to mention physical conditioning.<p>

Andy planned to attend the late afternoon press conferences then head to the hotel to finish up her article. She was hoping to get everything finished tonight that way Saturday would be completely free. As pitiful as Miranda' sounded on the phone, Andy was determined to get her trip to the Library of Congress. Miranda would just have to get over it.

Her phone started ringing again just as she was headed into a meeting. Great. "Hello, Andy here."

"Hey you! It's been what…six months since I've heard your sexy voice?"

Nate? No, no that wasn't Nate…It was Brent… "Brent!"

"That's me!" Brent laughed and it was one of the best sounds Andy had heard in a while. "I got your last e-mail and thought I better call you before you skipped town."

"You're here? In D.C.?" Oh this couldn't get any better. They e-mailed back and forth all the time but she and Brent hadn't laid eyes on one another in a very, very long time.

"That I am. I'm on my way back home and thought I would call you first. See if you had time for dinner tonight?"

"Hell yes are you kidding me!" Andy had to put a hand over her mouth to keep her voice down. This was beyond awesome. "Get a pen and paper and I'll tell you where I'm staying. They have a great restaurant right downstairs…"

* * *

><p>When Miranda pulled up to Andrea's hotel she was more than ready to be free of the car. It had been a long time since Miranda had driven anywhere for that long and combine that with two phone calls from Emily, four phone calls from Nigel, one call from the twins and two calls from Kennedy? She was ready to throw her phone out the window. But she didn't of course and she would suffer through it all over again if she had too.<p>

Miranda handed her keys over to the valet along with a nice tip. "I'm not quite ready to check in; can you store this somewhere for the time being?" Miranda pointed to her luggage.

"That most certainly won't be a problem. We'll have it waiting at the desk whenever you're ready." Her car and her luggage quickly disappeared and Miranda made her way into a very spacious lobby filled with comfortable furniture. Thank God. Miranda happily sat down in a high back chair and pulled out her phone, dialing Andrea's number. No answer. Hm. Miranda dialed it again and just as before, no answer. Perhaps she was in the shower. Miranda didn't know her room number but she surmised that with another hefty tip placed in the right hands, she could find out anything she wanted to know.

The doors happened to open just then and the smell of fresh roses hit Miranda right in the face. Miranda had a secret love for fresh cut roses so she turned in her chair to search them out. It was a beautiful bouquet full of red, white and few pink roses wrapped in simple tissue paper…another thing Miranda loved. Flowers wrapped in simple paper satisfied her far more than something put together in a garish vase. Whoever was getting these was quite the lucky girl. In more than one way. The young man carrying them was quite a show piece all on his own. The typical dark, handsome and mysterious type…yet there was something sweet in his face. He was probably a complete pushover. Hopefully the three-piece suit he was sporting helped him be taken a little more seriously because that goofy grin on his face was probably something he could not get rid of. Like someone else she knew.

Miranda thought about trying Andrea's cellphone one more time by the young man was pacing a little in front of the restaurant entrance and this whole scene intrigued her far too much. Miranda was perhaps the best there was at people watching when the mood struck. Just as she was settling in though the elevator dinged, announcing the coming of a new element to this scene. Hearing it, the young man turned and immediately hurried over. Ah, this should be interesting.

Miranda leaned to the side just a bit to see around other pieces of furniture but only for a moment. Whoever came out of the elevator was obviously very happy to see Mr. Flower Boy has Miranda had just named him. In fact she was so happy she literally jumped into his arms. Mr. Flower Boy held her tight and twirled her around a time or two…okay now it was going from cute to ridiculous fairly quickly. Finally he put her down yet the girl came back again throwing her arms around his neck and hugged him to the point of what seemed near death. But then…then the girl turned around and Miranda contemplated the idea that this was it…she was having a stroke. Right? Really she must be because there was no way…absolutely _no_ way that…that Andrea…_Her_ Andrea was hugging this man. Like this. Here. At this hotel. And there was no way he was here with those flowers…for her. But she was and he was…and they were…walking right toward her. Miranda straightened in her chair and turned her head downward. There were plenty of other people milling about to keep her hidden but she found it odd that Andrea, who always claimed to be able to know when Miranda was around, had no feel for her in this room. None whatsoever.

They were laughing, walking arm in arm. Mr. Flower Boy was holding her flowers while she wiped her eyes as they went. Andrea always was a crier. Now they were going into the restaurant…and as luck would have it their table was in full view of Miranda. They were even seated in such a way that she could see them from the side. What should she do? Should she leave? Was this…what it clearly looked like? Miranda was never one to doubt or second guess a single thing she saw, but this? This definitely gave her pause. She wanted to believe it was nothing…hell she wanted to believe she was not even seeing it at all. Experiencing a stroke right now would indeed be better than this. Much better.

Oh, now they were ordering drinks. Mr. Flower Boy was apparently trying to order something but was stopped by Andrea. They had a brief conference then finished ordering. While they waited it was all laughs and frantic talking and hand waving…Miranda had seen that before. It made her sick to remember now instead of…well instead of everything else she usually felt when she thought about their first lunch. She might have been scared for her life that afternoon but it was indeed the best lunch she had ever had in her life. And now? Who knows…

Drinks arrived. Strange. Four shots…of something, two glasses of wine and two glasses of water. The shots were a curious thing. They each took one and set it to the side…then took the other ones, toasted each other and the other lonely shot glasses then drank. Mr. Flower Boy was quiet after that and Andrea just had to hold his hand. Again Miranda felt sick. There was a lot of talking…ordering of food…laughing. Miranda still didn't know what to do. She needed to do something though. Anything. But she couldn't. All she could do was sit there and watch.

Then something even worse happened. All the way from her chair she heard Andrea laugh…it was that kind of open and full embodied laugh that Miranda was used to hearing occasionally when she'd managed to say something funny enough or evoke some other sort of emotion that Andrea deemed worthy…but never like this. Out in the open. Which was simply because they didn't do anything out in the open. Maybe Andrea missed that? Maybe Andrea needed…wanted more? Miranda could hardly blame her. It hurt but she could hardly blame her. After all Miranda was _Miranda_… Yet Andrea had never asked her for more. Andrea had never asked her for 'out in the open.' Andrea never asked her for anything. Perhaps she was asking someone else…

* * *

><p>"Yeah, but you know what Andy…if you hadn't been with Nate you wouldn't be right here now. So just think of it like that. Hm?" Brent pushed his now clean plate away and went after the desert he just <em>had <em>to have. There was no way Andy could eat anything else.

"I know, I know. Really I know that but it doesn't mean that I'm okay with it."

"So what? Uh? You need to give yourself a break. Nate was a dumbass. You figured out that…eventually." He snorted into his wine glass. "And this Christian fella…he sounds like a dumbass too so whatever. Give yourself a break."

"Okay, okay. God it is so good to see you. I'm very serious when I say you _have_ got to come visit me. Got to, _got_ to come visit me. Okay?" Andy couldn't wait for Brent to meet Miranda…if she would agree. Hopefully she would because this was important. Brent was the closest thing she had to a brother and even though they hadn't laid eyes on each other in forever didn't mean he was any less special to her.

"I will come visit you now that Nate's out of the picture. You know he hated me. I can't believe you don't want any desert."

"No…no desert. So you're not…freaked out? By what I told you?"

"What?" Brent finally looked up from his chocolate cake. "No. Why would I freak out?" Brent put his fork down and took her hand. "Andy you like…well…you're in love with this woman. Big deal who cares right? Remember what we used to say all the time when we worked for the school paper?"

"We've got bigger fish to fry…"

"Exactly. Now…If you're not eating your cake…I'm eating your cake." Brent took her cake without further issue. "There is one thing I don't understand though."

Oh, boy. "Yeah?"

"Yeah…what in the hell are you doing here?"

"What?..."

"Andy, I know you're happy to see me and all but something's off. You're sad! Admit it. You want to go home right?"

"Right, but I have this thing tomorrow…"

"Whatever. You can't tell me that if you got up one day and said 'Miranda can you take me to the stupid ass Library…' that she wouldn't jump up and take you? If she's anything like you say she is…I'd say she would probably move Earth itself to get you there."

"You know that was a fine performance but did you have to throw that 'little girl voice' in there like that? You're such an ass." Andy threw her napkin at him and he laughed.

"I am an ass but I'm a good one. And hey…these two over here would tell you the same thing ya know." Brent pointed to the other shot glasses. He was right.

"Yeah…Chrissy especially. God I miss her."

"I know. So listen…" Brent paused for a second and cleared his throat. He was clearly not going to talk about _that_ anymore and Andy couldn't blame him. It was so long ago…"I think you should let me take you to the airport."

"You're staying until tomorrow?"

"No..Jesus sometimes you are so stupid. Andy – go home. Now."

"Tonight?"

"Oh my God. Woman you are _really_ dumb. Go home. Go be with her. Tell her all the lovey junk you told me not twenty minutes ago and just…well…just go home!" Brent threw up his hand completely exasperated.

Well? "Yes…yes okay. Jesus I was supposed to call her at six…it's nearly seven-thirty now. She'll be so pissed. I've got to tell her something…anything…then call the airport and…oh, my God."

"Breathe. Seriously. You're talking a hundred miles an hour. I didn't tell you to flip out. I told you to go home." Brent waved to the door. "Go pack. I'll wait right there in the lobby for you."

Andy didn't give it a second thought, glance or word. She was out of her chair and practically running to the elevator. She was going home.

* * *

><p>Miranda shook her head as she continued to torture herself. She should have got up and left about…well as soon as this all began really. But no. She'd stayed throughout the whole damn thing. But something was happening now…Mr. Flower Boy was waving his hands around…then gesturing toward the door. Not three seconds later Andrea was getting up and running for the door. What had happened? She didn't look upset. She looked anything but upset. She looked positively radiant as she headed straight for the elevator. Miranda turned her attention back to Mr. Flower Boy. He was getting up as well. Throwing some money down…if he headed to the elevator Miranda was done. There would be no room for doubt then.<p>

Yet he did anything but head for the elevator. He headed straight for Miranda. Or the lobby rather…or straight for Miranda and the chair right beside hers rapidly pressing keys on this phone. No doubt sending text messages. As much as Miranda wanted to get up…for the fifth time, she couldn't. Especially since she noticed Andrea had left her flowers on the table and Mr. Flower Boy had not bothered to bring them along. This was her opening. Her way to find out for sure if her heart had been wasting time.

"I see you have forgotten your flowers." She pointed to toward the restaurant.

Mr. Flower Boy looked up a little dazed then looked over at the restaurant. "Oh yeah! Well she doesn't need them now. Not where she's going." He pointed to the elevator. "You're a pretty good people watcher…I love to watch people. You learn a lot that way. I get that from my mother." He smiled brightly with that foolish grin Miranda had seen on his face earlier.

"How could you possibly not need a gift you've just received?" This was definitely intriguing. Miranda surmised they were going away together…for the evening. Perhaps another hotel? His home?

Brent laughed and grinned again. It turned Miranda's stomach. "Well you see, my friend there…is in love." He raised his eyebrow and had the audacity to lean closer. His voice lowered to a whisper. "It's a good thing I'm here really. She a bit slow…and was about to do something totally stupid. But I've saved her from herself yet again. As always."

From Miranda? Had she told him and now her mind was changed. It seemed so. "Well I suppose she is lucky then…to have a friend like you."

"You've got that right. Otherwise she'd be going to visit the damn library tomorrow instead of going home tonight. Some girls I tell you…have to have everything spelled out for them. Sometimes she is such a guy…and that's saying something consider that I _am_ a guy you know. Really it's a wonder she's made it this far in life." He laughed again and Miranda's head felt like it was going to explode trying to figure out what he was talking about. "I swear…who picks a library over their girlfriend, right? Only her. Dummy."

Wait a second…what? Andrea was going home? Home as in to Miranda? As in Miranda had been sitting here like a jealous old fool this entire time? As in Miranda was the biggest idiot known to man? Miranda grabbed his arm and of course he looked up quite shocked. "You must tell me…what room is she in? Do you know?"

"What? Why would you want to—fuck." He regarded her in amazement. "Fuck…you're her? You're Miranda aren't you? Yes…yes I recognize you now. From the papers. Holy shit. It's 404…you've been here the whole time haven't you? Shit…"

"Yes, yes I have. I dare say I have made a horrible misjudgment of the situation." Miranda could feel her face burning.

"I bet you have," He replied rather sternly. "but there really isn't time for much explanation on my part. Just know that I grew up next door to her, known her my whole life and I _will_ be seeing you again. I hated Nate…but I have a feeling, in spite of this little mix-up, I'm going to like you, _Miranda_. Or at least I hope I do for her sake. Now…get up there and get ready to beg for forgiveness. Room 404."

Miranda stood up, he rose as well and held out his hand. She took it gratefully. "I'll start here. I apologize. I should have done this differently…and I most certainly should not have doubted her."

"No you shouldn't have. Try not to do that again. Now go. Women…so dumb sometimes. I swear." He shook his head and waved her off.

Miranda simply nodded her farewell and headed for the elevator fully prepared to get down on her knees and make the best show possible of setting things right.


End file.
